Along Came a Spider-Man - Vol 2: Enter the Goblin
by humanspiderstobey
Summary: Guilt-ridden after the destructive battle with Vulture and the aftermath, Peter Parker attempts to continue fighting crime as Spider-Man, but he has to face a new ominous threat, not knowing it's his best friend's father. Vol. 2 of Along Came a Spider-Man brings more challenges for Peter Parker as a person and as Spider-Man to face alone and with new faces.
1. New Beginnings

**Chapter 1: New Beginnings**

"Breaking news tonight here in New York City. Adrian Toomes, a.k.a., the Vulture, is once again in custody after being defeated by Spider-Man a few nights ago. He has been imprisoned in the Ravencroft Institute of the Criminally Insane. Unfortunately, Adrian's accomplice and notorious crime boss Wilson Fisk is on the loose, and he is believed to be armed. As of the ongoing investigation into the death of Valeria Toomes, Adrian Toomes' daughter, Spider-Man is the prime suspect since the other suspect MacDonald Gargan, a.k.a., the Scorpion, was killed by Adrian Toomes."

Angry, Peter changed the channel to a different news station, where he saw some other breaking news.

"Norman Osborn, founder of Oscorp, has been hospitalized after suffering from an alleged seizure. It's unknown what caused the seizure, and it's unclear if he's going to make it."

Shocked, Peter immediately thought about Harry, wondering if he knew.

"Harry…"

* * *

Harry ran into the hospital after finding out the news about his father. He ran to the front desk and asked for his father's room information. A nurse escorted him to the room where he saw his unconscious father in his bed.

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"We don't know. It's too soon to tell," the nurse responded. "He's in a coma."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"We'll let you know of anything."

"Thank you," Harry said before the nurse walked out.

* * *

A few hours later, Harry was sitting next to his father, holding his hand and praying that he wouldn't lose him, especially after their argument. As he prayed, he saw Peter walk in.

"Pete."

"Harry, I heard about what happened. I'm so sorry," Peter sighed as he hugged his best friend.

"Thanks, Pete," Harry responded.

"How is he?" Peter asked.

"The nurse said it's hard to tell whether he's gonna live or die, but he's in a coma."

"Did you hear more about what happened?"

"Remember that enhancer drug stuff that my dad wanted to accomplish?"

Peter nodded.

"Well, he finally tested it, and something went wrong. Apparently, the effects of the serum were too much for him to handle, and it didn't mix well with his respiratory system. As a result, he's completely out for the count." Harry sadly continued while he stared at his father.

Peter could see the pain in Harry's eyes. He wasn't completely sure, and he didn't want to tell Harry, but he had the biggest hunch that Norman wasn't gonna make it. That only made him feel more terrible. He knew what it was like to lose a father figure. Twice.

"Don't worry, Harry. It's gonna be fine. I promise," Peter assured him.

"I hope you're right."

* * *

 **7 Months Later**

It was late August, and the first day of school had arrived. Over the summer, Peter had really done nothing but fight crime, hang out with Harry a little (mostly in the hospital), and study for the ACT, although not much studying was required. He'd talked with Liz a little bit over text, but things still felt kind of awkward after he rejected her.

Walking into school, Peter felt good being a junior. He hadn't faced any big or powerful threat since his fight with the Vulture, so it was a huge breath of relief to just be dealing with small-time criminals and start a new year.

"Harry!" Peter called once he saw his best friend walking through the hallway.

Harry stopped and waited for Peter to catch up to him.

"How's everything been lately?" Peter asked.

"Just okay. Norman hasn't woken up yet," Harry sadly admitted.

"I'm sorry, Harry."

"I just have to try not to think about it. It was a mistake bringing it up," Harry said. "Have you talked to Liz at all?"

"We texted a little, but that was it. Not really interested in her anymore."

"Yo, Pete!"

Peter and Harry turned to see Flash walking towards them. He then threw his arms around Peter and Harry.

"What's going on, guys?" Flash chuckled. "How was your summer?"

"Not too exciting," Peter responded.

"Hey, Harry, how's your dad doing? Has he woken up yet?"

Peter gave Flash a glare, and the jock quickly regretted what he said.

"Honestly, I don't want to talk about it," Harry reaffirmed, walking away.

Peter and Flash could only stare at the rich kid walk to his first class, not knowing how to help him.

"How was your summer, Flash?"

"Great. Spent a lot of time at football camp. Still the quarterback."

* * *

In his AP Calculus class, Peter just sat back in his chair, not paying attention to the teacher since he already knew the material. He had been contemplating everything that had happened since he had first gotten his powers on that fateful field trip last year.

Although the spider bite had given Peter these unimaginable powers, it had also caused terrible things as well, mainly revolving around deaths of the people he loved such as Uncle Ben and Valeria.

Peter had always vowed to make sure nobody would ever find out his identity because that only increased the chances of his loved ones getting hurt. He also couldn't stop thinking about how he could've prevented the deaths of Uncle Ben and Valeria. Because of the mistakes he had made, he had inadvertently hurt others as a result. Aunt May, Valeria's mom, Adrian…

Peter quickly raised his hand in the air.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Peter blurted out.

The teacher nodded, and Peter walked out of the classroom.

Running into the bathroom, which was luckily empty, Peter placed his face in his hands and leaned against the sink, devastated.

" _It's about the decisions you make. Whatever you do always affects your future, so you have to handle your decisions well and make sure you do the right thing. With great power, there must also come great responsibility."_

" _Family isn't just blood. They're your friends, too. And I'm glad you're my family in the end…"_

Yelling in despair, Peter slammed his hand on the sink, breaking it and spraying water everywhere. Not even caring, Peter stormed out of the bathroom.

* * *

A week after the school year had started, Norman was still in his hospital bed, lying in a coma, as he had been for the past seven months. Everyone at Oscorp, as well as Norman's family, was undeniably worried, particularly Harry. So much time had passed, and it didn't look like things were going to get better. In fact, the more time that went by, the more worries that were formed.

Harry was sitting next to his unconscious father as he had been every day since his father was first hospitalized. Silently praying every day that his dad would wake up, Harry's hope was starting to diminish.

At that exact moment, however, Norman's eyes opened, and he burst out of the bed, surprised.

"What the f-," Harry stuttered. "Doctor!"

A doctor ran into the room and was surprised by what he saw.

"You've got to be kidding me. You're up!" the doctor shouted in shock.

"How long was I out?" Norman asked, puzzled.

"Seven months," the doctor responded.

Norman's eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"It's true, Dad," Harry assured.

The doctor ran out to get more people to help, and Harry hugged his dad.

"I'm glad you're awake, Dad. I'm really sorry about the way I acted before..."

"You're forgiven, Harry. It's just good to see you again."

* * *

At the cemetery, Peter was kneeling in front of Valeria's grave, still guilt-ridden over what had happened.

"I'm so sorry, Valeria," Peter apologized with tears in his eyes. "After my Uncle Ben had died, I vowed to never let anyone die because of me. I failed. I failed my uncle, I failed your family, but most of all...I failed you. You weren't that stereotypical popular girl. You were more than that. You were part of my family. I can't promise I won't ever let anyone else die, because with all this power, it's not entirely guaranteed. And I don't want to break a promise."

Peter put his hands on his face and continued crying for the next few minutes. Eventually, police sirens were heard. Peter turned around to see a getaway truck escaping from two cruisers. Sighing, Peter started to unbutton his shirt, revealing the infamous Spider-Man logo.

About a minute later, Spider-Man was swinging towards the truck, ready to do what he does best.

* * *

Norman and Harry walked inside the mansion. For Norman, it felt too good to walk inside his home for the first time in months.

"How does it feel to be back home?" Harry excitedly asked.

Norman smiled. "Like I never left."

"Oh, Norman!"

Norman looked up at the stairwell to see his wife Emily running towards him. Kind, caring, and beautiful, Emily had been married to Norman for the past twenty years, but over time, their marriage had started to slightly deteriorate due to Norman's devotion to his work. However, Emily was more than excited to see her husband again, and she felt like this could be a fresh start. She was in a golden dress, her makeup was done, and her brown hair was straightened.

"Well, look who it is!" Norman laughed as he walked towards his wife, hugging her.

"I missed you so much," Emily admitted as she lovingly embraced her husband. "I'm so happy you're okay."

"I am, too. Being here with my family couldn't feel better," Norman happily stated.

"Anyways, I have a fancy meal prepared to celebrate this day," Emily revealed. "Let's go eat."

Norman, Emily, and Harry walked into the dining room, where a beautiful feast was waiting.

"Harry, will you help me with something in the kitchen?" Emily requested.

"Sure, Mom," Harry said, following his mom into the kitchen.

Norman sat down, feeling at home again. He firmly grabbed a glass, only for it to shatter, causing his hand to start bleeding.

"What the hell? Emily!"

Emily walked over to Norman and noticed his bleeding hand.

"How did-"

"I don't know, but it stings."

"All right, I'll get the first-aid kit," Emily said as she walked out of the room.

Although he could feel the mild pain, Norman somehow felt better. In fact, he felt way better than he ever had before. He still needed to do some research on how it had happened. Obviously, the experiment was the only possible explanation, but it had failed.

A smile slowly formed on Norman's face as he thought about everything that was happening.

* * *

Norman's hand was wrapped in gauze while he and his family were eating, which was a slightly awkward meal since no one was talking. No one knew what to say to Norman since he had been home. They wanted to comfort him about the serum failing, but they were afraid that he'd get angry.

"So, Harry, who visited me while I was in the hospital?" Norman wondered.

"I was there everyday," Harry answered. "A lot of Oscorp people were there. I don't know of any names, though."

"That's all?" Norman asked, surprised.

Harry nodded.

"You weren't there, Emily?"

"I just couldn't see you that way, Norman. You were asleep. I didn't know if you were going to wake up." Emily defended.

"Well, it's nice to know my wife was able to support me while I was unconscious," Norman mocked.

"Do you know how hard it was for me?"

"You seem pretty devastated to me," Norman said sarcastically.

"Not everything is about you, Norman."

"And not everything is about you. You don't care about this marriage," Norman responded coldly.

"I care more about it than you do," Emily countered. "All you do is cause trouble for people."

"Like who?"

"Adrian Toomes. If you hadn't fired him, he wouldn't have gone crazy. He nearly killed you, and he could've killed Harry!" Emily scolded.

"And if he wasn't a terrible employee, he wouldn't have needed to be fired," Norman countered.

"This is coming from the man who arrogantly stole his project idea. Hell, I'm not even shocked that you didn't apologize or do anything to fix it. You never do, and you're no different than him."

Angered by his wife's words, Norman stood up and threw his napkin on the table.

"What a nice way to be welcomed back home," Norman said before walking out, leaving Harry extremely uncomfortable.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading the first chapter of Vol. 2! Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to the readers who have stuck with us since Vol. 1. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

 **Next chapter: Peter makes a new friend who can help him move on from losing Valeria.**


	2. What's Wrong

**Chapter 2: What's Wrong**

In his lab at the Oscorp tower, Norman was on his computer, looking over the effects of the superhuman enhancer serum. Apparently, Norman's arrogance had gotten the better of him, as there were a few miscalculations in the protocol and tests. As a result, the serum was unstable.

"No, this can't be!" Norman exclaimed.

Norman looked through more files and data on the experiment, but it only further proved that the experiment was a disaster.

"Goddamn it!"

Norman threw the computer at the wall, shattering it. Norman then processed to have a breakdown in the lab.

* * *

Outside of the Midtown building, Peter was walking around the area, trying to get his mind off of things. Sitting on a fountain outside of the school, Peter took his books out of his backpack. Starting his AP Physics homework, Peter tried his very best to focus on nothing but Physics, but it was felt impossible at that point.

It was rare for a teenager to hold the burden of someone's death on their shoulders, and it was a feeling that nobody deserved. However, Peter wasn't a normal teenager, and he never could be.

"So the proton and neutron masses would essentially be the same equations, while the electron ma- DAMN IT!"

As hard as he tried, Peter couldn't stop getting the death of Valeria out of his head, and eerily enough, he still remembered every detail of exactly how it happened.

Peter angrily threw his textbook, which landed in front of a girl's feet.

"Dude, chill."

Peter looked up to see a familiar girl. The wavy blonde hair and blue eyes were recognizable as Gwen Stacy. A popular girl and honors student in one, Peter had never gotten to know Gwen all that well, but he had always considered her to be gorgeous, maybe just as pretty as Liz, if not prettier.

"Everything okay, Peter?" Gwen chuckled. "You look like you're gonna punch someone."

"So you know my name?" Peter scoffed, picking his book up.

"Don't be pushy. I'm here to be friendly. Clearly, you're in a crappy mood, so talk."

"Talk?"

Gwen sat next to Peter on the fountain. "Yeah, talk to me. What's going on?"

Peter shook his head. "You don't care."

"If I didn't care, why would I be asking?"

After a few seconds, Peter decided to open up. "Fine. Remember what happened to Valeria Toomes back in December?"

"Who would forget? It was terrible what happened to her," Gwen pointed out.

"I was there."

Gwen's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. I work freelance for the _Daily Bugle_ , and I was there when the fight between Spider-Man and Scorpion occurred. Scorpion wanted to lure Spider-Man over to him, so he attacked me and told me to bring him out. Valeria tried to stop me, but I went anyways. Then…"

Peter choked up a little.

"Everything else happened."

Gwen put her hand on Peter's back.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened. You were doing what was necessary."

"And by doing it, I-"

"Don't give me more of that bullshit. More people would've died if you hadn't called Spider-Man. Valeria would've been proud. You did the right thing."

"Oh, so she'd be proud that I let her d-"

"You can't hold that burden, Peter! Since you were there when it happened, I think you're just irrationally blaming yourself for her death."

Peter shook his head and got up to leave.

"I have to think about this a bit more," Peter sighed.

Gwen got up and walked with Peter on the way back to school.

"So, why were you outside? You like studying near the fountain, too?" Peter asked.

"Sometimes, for the same reason you do."

"Relaxing environment?" Peter guessed.

"Yep."

* * *

"C'mon, let's get out of here!" one of the thieves yelled to his partners as he ran out of the jewelry store.

It had been a rough day for the young robber, and he wasn't gonna get caught by the police because of the idiots that were his 'partners.'

Finally, the other two robbers got out of the store, holding as many bags of diamonds that they could carry.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" the second thief yelled.

The three thieves ran over to their getaway car, where they found the getaway driver unconscious.

"Surprised to see me?!" Spider-Man shouted, jumping in front of the robbers.

The robbers pulled out their guns, but Spider-Man shot webs at the robbers and slammed them together.

"You guys are just wasting your own time," Spider-Man mocked, grabbing one of the robbers and punching them in the face, knocking them unconscious.

The second robber threw a fist, only for Spider-Man to grab and crush it. The second robber fell to his knees, yelling in pain, but Spider-Man didn't even care.

"You think you can get away with this? If so, you're completely mistaken!" Spider-Man angrily declared as he grabbed the third robber and threw him right against the wall of the jewelry store.

The third robber tried to get back up, but Spider-Man shot a web at him, swung him over, and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him down.

"That's what happens when you mess with New York!" Spider-Man shouted.

"What the hell?"

"He could've killed them!"

"Is he insane?"

Spider-Man turned around to see a bunch of shocked and angry civilians staring at him.

"Guys, you don't understand! I'm doing my job!" Spider-Man justified.

"Haven't you killed enough people?"

That one comment was enough for Spider-Man to lash out.

"Hey, I did all that I could!" Spider-Man roared.

The citizens were all taken aback by Spider-Man's yelling, and Spider-Man himself was even shocked. Overwhelmed with all the panic he was facing, Spider-Man swung away.

* * *

Herman Schultz was in his garage, finishing up his gauntlets that he made from leftover parts at the motorcycle shop he worked at.

A tall and muscular African-American man in his early 40s, Herman was a very peculiar man. As a kid, he had aspired to be a pro wrestler, but he never imagined he'd end up where he was now. He dropped out of high school during his senior year, and both of his parents were both killed in a car accident when he was 22. Years later, his wife had divorced him after being married for only five years, and all he had was a lousy job at a motorcycle shop , which didn't provide him a lot of money.

One day, Herman conspired to build something greater than anything he had built before. It wouldn't just be a way for him to make money, but it would also give him a thrill at life. He wanted his creations to benefit him.

It had taken about a year, but he finally thought he was done with his special gauntlets, which would shoot air blasts, vibrating at high frequency.

Putting the gauntlets on, he aimed his hands at a wooden board and shot the vibration waves, which blasted apart the board.

Herman brought out several more objects and started blasting them apart in excitement.

As he looked around at the mess he had made, he couldn't have been prouder. He had made a black and yellow bodysuit and mask to protect himself, and he was about to put it on for the first time.

His entire life, Herman had barely received any recognition or attention, but he was about to. He wouldn't only be the most notorious criminal in New York. He'd be a larger threat than the other crazy villains that Spider-Man had faced. He wouldn't make the same mistakes that the Vulture had made. He was gonna be smart about this.

* * *

"I never imagined you being friends with Gwen Stacy," Harry said.

"We've only known each other for a few days," Peter pointed out.

Peter and Harry were at a coffee shop, waiting for Gwen to arrive.

"You really are popular with the popular ladies, aren't you?" Harry teased.

Peter just looked down, his eyes becoming somber.

"Shit, sorry, man. I didn't mean it like that," Harry apologized.

"It's alright," Peter insisted.

Although Harry was always the jokester, Peter knew he was right. Liz Allan, Valeria Toomes, and now Gwen Stacy. Peter didn't say it out loud to avoid sounding arrogant, but he did enjoy being friends with the popular girls, particularly because he never thought it'd be a possibility.

"Not just Gwen. I never even would've imagined either of us becoming friends with Flash. The dude I've had to protect you from since elementary school."

Peter nodded. "Agreed. He's been really cool lately. Never would've expected that to happen."

As they continued talking, they saw Gwen walk in.

"Did I miss anything, losers?" Gwen jokingly asked, playfully hitting the two on their heads.

"Quite a lot, actually," Harry responded as he rubbed his head.

Gwen sat down, and a waiter walked over to her.

"Can I get anything for you?" the waiter asked.

"Mocha frappuccino, extra sweet," Gwen answered.

The waiter walked away, and Gwen smiled at Peter and Harry.

"So, I met Pete at the fountain outside of school the other day. How 'bout you, Harry?"

"Well, Pete and I have known each other since we were kids. I always had to defend him when he was being picked on, especially when it involved Flash. With my dad running Oscorp, Pete's really all I've got right now."

"That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that," Gwen said. "What's your story, Pete?"

"Just doing what I can with my life right now," Peter sighed. "Trying to help out my aunt with financial issues."

"You work for the _Bugle_ , though. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"Not when you have J. Jonah Jameson as a boss. I work freelance, so it's not a lot of money. Plus, the dude never shuts up about Spider-Man being a menace."

The waiter came over and gave Gwen her drink. Gwen took a sip and replied, "Neither will my dad, to be honest."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"The NYPD captain recently retired, so my dad's being promoted. He won't stop talking at home about how Spider-Man is a vigilante," Gwen said.

"Do you believe that?" Peter asked.

"No. In my eyes, Spider-Man has saved everyone he could save, and he's done what he can to make everyone _feel_ safe. My dad and I tend to argue about that sort of thing."

Peter smiled. After everything he had been facing for the past couple of months, it was nice to finally have a supporter.

With the new knowledge that Gwen's dad was part of the NYPD, Peter decided to take advantage of that. "Do you know if they caught that Fisk guy yet? I keep hearing about him on the news."

"I'm not really not supposed to say, but from what my dad has told me, he's still on the run. He's planning on doubling his business," Gwen confessed.

"What does that mean?" Peter asked, nervous.

"Well, you know how he's a crime lord?"

"Yeah, the biggest in New York."

"Well, he's planning on doubling on that. He's gonna open more warehouses and hire more staff to create weapons so that they can recruit new people to kill Spider-Man. I guess Fisk is still pissed that Spider-Man put his friend behind bars."

"Who's his friend?" Peter questioned, pretending he didn't already know.

"Adrian Toomes."

"Really? That Vulture guy?"

Gwen nodded.

Harry shrugged. "Dude's a psycho."

"People like him deserve to be behind bars," Peter growled.

The talk about Fisk got Peter thinking. After he had gotten bitten by the spider, a majority of his problems had all started when Fisk entered the picture. He was the one who hired Kraven, broke out Adrian, and overall put a huge weight on Peter's career as a hero. Peter couldn't let Wilson Fisk become even more powerful than he already was. He needed to find him and stop him...quickly.

"I have to go," Peter lied as he stood up. "I told my aunt I'd be home by now."

Running out of the coffee shop, Peter fled home.

"What was that about?" Gwen asked.

Harry chuckled, unsurprised. "He does that a lot."

* * *

In his bedroom, Peter was on his laptop, researching Wilson Fisk.

Any amount of information would probably be useful at this point. He knew about Fisk's success, but he needed to find out more. Did he have a secret hideout, somewhere where his plan could unfold?

Either way, Peter knew one thing for sure. Wilson Fisk wasn't gonna hurt anymore people. And he was gonna receive justice.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Spider-Man vs. Shocker.**


	3. Shocked

**Chapter 3: Shocked**

"Peter, dinner's ready!"

"Coming, Aunt May!" Peter shouted from his room.

With his eyes glued to his laptop screen, Peter had spent the past week researching Wilson Fisk and his criminal organization, but a majority of the info he had gotten was unhelpful. He needed something good.

* * *

Norman had been in his lab for days trying to alter the serum so it would be perfect and ready for human testing. In all honesty, this was the most important thing Norman would ever create. It would change the world and give people new abilities that was once thought impossible.

Much to his dismay, Norman sensed somebody approaching.

"NORMAN!"

Norman turned around and was unsurprised to see his wife, Emily.

"If it isn't my loving and supportive wife. What do you want, Emily?"

"Norman, you've spent every single night in here since you came back. Can't you just spend some time with Harry and I?" Emily angrily said.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're not worth spending time with. My work is important not just to me, but it will be to the world, too."

"So your family isn't important?"

"I didn't say that, goddamn it!"

Emily glared harder than she ever had in her life. "Well, you might as well have. I don't even know who you are anymore. You're never around."

"This is coming from the woman who didn't visit her own-"

"You are a failure as a husband, Norman. As a father, as a scientist, and as a human being."

Instead of lashing out in pure rage as expected, Norman calmly responded.

"I want a divorce."

* * *

The situation at Queens Community Bank was pure chaos. The doors were blasted open, part of the building was buried in rubble, and Herman Schultz couldn't have been a happier man. Feeling confident in his black-and-yellow bodysuit, Shocker threw as many bags of cash into his van as possible.

"Best payday ever!" Shocker yelled in thrill as he threw his fourteenth bag in.

"Freeze! Get down on your knees!"

Shocker turned around to see a barricade of police. With six cruisers and two trucks, several cops aimed their guns at the villain.

"Drop your weapons!"

"Surrender!"

"Okay, I surrender," Shocker mocked.

Shocker slowly started to get down to his knees but quickly got up and shot the cops with his gauntlets. The impact threw the cops several feet back and even knocked the vehicles out as well.

"Amateurs," Shocker scoffed as he put his last bag of cash in.

Getting inside the van, Shocker slammed the gas pedal as hard as he could. The escape itself was thrilling, but it was nowhere as exciting as the robbery itself. He felt unstoppable.

However, thumps were heard on the top of the van.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to give you a ticket!" Spider-Man shouted.

"Damn it!" Shocker muttered as he twisted the wheel as hard as he could, trying to shake the young hero off.

The effort was in vain as Spider-Man's hand plunged through the van and grabbed the steering wheel. Irritated, Shocker shot the hand with his gauntlet, knocking Spider-Man off the van and breaking the window. Falling on the ground, Spider-Man shot a web at the van to hold on. Jumping back on top of the van, Spider-Man shot a web through the hole at the top, pulling Shocker out.

"You idiot!" Shocker growled as he held on.

Spider-Man grabbed Shocker and threw him out. He then shot a web at a store to serve as Shocker's cushion. Acting fast, Spider-Man jumped right in front of the van and caught it, stopping and smashing it.

While all of that was happening, Shocker had freed himself from the webs and started to escape on foot.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Spider-Man declared as he swung in front of Shocker and shot a web at his gauntlet.

Annoyed more than ever, Shocker activated the gauntlet, breaking the web and knocking Spider-Man back.

Desperate, Shocker blasted himself off the ground, using the air blast as a propellant. Shocker grabbed onto a fire escape and started climbing up the top of the apartment complex. Trying to recover from his attack, Spider-Man shot a web to the top of the complex and swung up. There, he met Shocker.

"Time for you to die," Shocker said.

"Seriously? Is that the best you got, Shocker? You think no one's threatened to kill me? Why don't you come up with better lines next time."

"There won't be a next time, bug."

Shocker shot a blast at Spider-Man, who jumped over it. Shocker shot another one, which Spider-Man also dodged by ducking. Spider-Man jumped at Shocker, who managed to blast the former. The impact sent Spider-Man off the building. Swinging himself back onto the roof, Spider-Man dodged more blasts and shot a web at Shocker's chest. Spider-Man pulled Shocker towards him and kicked him, the impact knocking off one of the gauntlets.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves," Spider-Man admitted as he stomped on the gauntlet, crushing it.

Yelling in rage, Shocker turned up the dial on his second gauntlet. Spider-Man ran over, only to get punched in the face by the gauntlet. Despite Spider-Man's super strength and endurance, it hurt badly. Shocker then punched Spider-Man in the ribs, knocking him down. Spider-Man yelled in agony as the electric shock worsened the pain. Shocker got down and started repeatedly punching Spider-Man, who eventually grabbed Shocker's gauntlet and crushed it. It wasn't just the gauntlet that was smashed, as Shocker yelled in pain over his broken hand.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Spider-Man mocked as he grabbed Shocker.

Before he could throw another hit, Spider-Man couldn't stop thinking about what the civilians said about him that one day. He had gone too far with the bank robbers, but they were criminals, and therefore, they deserved it. Just like this Shocker guy. Right?

Sighing, Spider-Man dropped Shocker and tied him up in a bunch of webs. He wasn't gonna lose his temper again.

* * *

Lying in his prison cell, Herman couldn't have felt more discouraged in his life. His career as the Shocker was supposed to turn everything around. He was supposed to make a name for himself. He was supposed to be Spider-Man's greatest enemy. Now, he was just another baddie that Spider-Man had defeated.

"Damn you, Spider-Man!" Herman roared as he grabbed the bars of his cell. "I swear, once I get out of here, I'll rip all the flesh off your bones!"

* * *

It was a big day. A huge crowd of civilians and reporters were standing in front of Oscorp Tower. Norman was holding a press conference addressing the failed experiment, and it wasn't going to be good. The board members were standing side-by-side with Norman, displeased looks on their faces.

Norman wasn't pleased by the situation at all. "It was a very terrible incident, but I'm here today to assure you, Oscorp Industries will no longer fail like this again. We'll be-"

"Mr. Osborn, what specific factors caused it to go wrong?"

Ignoring the reporter's question, Norman continued. "We'll be doing everything in our power to improve our technology and provide for our civilians-"

"Was it a lack of focus?"

"How badly is this affecting Oscorp?"

"What's gonna happen next for the company?"

Fed up, Norman shouted, "As I said, we are doing everything in our power to improve! This press conference is over!"

The reporters and board members were all taken aback by Norman's sudden anger.

Not knowing how else to respond, Norman just walked away. As he took every step, he started to contemplate more of what was happening to him. It wasn't just his strength, agility, and intelligence. Was his anger increasing as well?

* * *

In the NYPD station, the officers were all having a typical day until a new cop walked in and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen! Put down what you're doing! Eyes over here!"

The officers all faced the new cop. Combed blonde hair, blue eyes, in his late 40s, this man gave off a cool vibe.

"My name is George Stacy, and starting today, I'm your new captain. It's well-known that your former captain has retired, so I'll be taking his duty to keep these streets safe."

George walked further into the precinct. "New York City used to be a relatively safe place. But look what's happened. Almost a year ago, the masked vigilante known as Spider-Man arrived, and since then, the city has been faced with constant destruction. After he arrived, you got freaks like that hunter, the Scorpion, that damn flying Vulture, and more recently, this criminal that people have started calling the Shocker. Every time Spider-Man has ever faced one of these villains, it's always the same result. Collateral damage. There's always something terrible that happens, specifically when his fight with Scorpion led to the death of a teenage girl that used to go to school with my daughter. Spider-Man's fight with Shocker could've gotten more people killed, and I won't stand to tolerate that anymore."

"So, what do we do?" one cop asked.

"I'm going to talk to a judge and issue an arrest warrant for Spider-Man."

* * *

"No way, man."

Peter and Harry were walking through the hallway. The students at school were talking about their Homecoming plans, specifically their dates, proposals, suits, dresses, shoes, etc.

For the past week, Harry wouldn't stop nagging Peter to ask Gwen to Homecoming.

"Dude, I swear to God, if you don't even try, I'm gonna kick the crap out of you," Harry threatened.

"Have you seen Gwen? She's out of my league," Peter pointed out.

"Uh, not really. You're both kind of nerds."

"Gee, thanks."

"What I mean is, you guys seriously have a lot in common. It's worth a shot," Harry assured.

"Who are you gonna ask?" Peter asked, trying to change the subject.

"Not to make this seem awkward for you or anything, but I was kind of thinking of asking Liz," Harry reluctantly admitted.

Peter laughed. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I don't know how, but she's starting to get my attention. Possibly because you had the balls to reject her."

"Screw you, dude."

The two friends laughed.

"So, are you gonna do it? Please, man. It's for your own good," Harry begged.

Peter sighed. "Fine."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! We hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Norman's rage increases drastically, and Harry's life changes forever.**

 **We apologize for the wait, but more chapters will be posted soon.**


	4. Rage

**Chapter 4: Rage**

Homecoming was just around the corner at Midtown High School, and most of the students already had dates. Of course, for best friends Peter Parker and Harry Osborn, they had yet to ask anyone. Harry had convinced Peter to ask Gwen Stacy while he still wanted to ask Liz Allan. While Peter still hadn't found a way, Harry was definitely prepared any day to ask Liz.

Today was that day.

"We gotta make sure this goes well. If it fails, then you're not gonna stop hearing from me all week," Harry warned as he and Peter walked to the cafeteria.

"Chill, man. It'll be fine," Peter assured Harry as they met Flash and some cheerleaders in the cafeteria.

A week earlier, Harry had paid some cheerleaders to help him out with his Homecoming proposal, and Peter and Flash had volunteered.

"We got a half hour until class starts, so let's get this over with!" Flash excitedly exclaimed.

"Agreed," Harry said as he took out a bouquet of flowers and large pieces of paper from a bag.

On each piece of paper had a letter, and all eleven of them spelled 'HOMECOMING?'

"Let's do this," Peter declared as Harry handed him the G paper.

"She's coming!" one of the cheerleaders warned.

Harry quickly ran over to Liz.

"Hey, Harry, you wanted to meet?" Liz asked.

"Yeah, Liz. Wanted to meet to ask you a question. Are you willing and totally up for what'll be the most insane night of this year?" Harry casually presented.

Liz smiled. "Are you asking me what I think you're asking me?"

Harry took Liz over to the team and whistled. At the signal, Peter, Flash, and the cheerleaders all held up their pieces of paper. Harry then picked up the ? paper, causing Liz to smile immensely and laugh.

"Is that a yes?" Harry chuckled.

"Sí," Liz laughed as she hugged Harry.

Students everywhere were recording and taking pictures of the homecoming proposal, with a majority of it going on social media.

* * *

"Norman and Emily Osborn, you are here today over full custody of your son Harry. You will both have a chance to speak on Harry's behalf and tell us why you deserve to have Harry stay with you. Emily, you may start," the judge said.

Emily looked at both Norman and Harry before walking to the podium.

Clearing her throat, Emily started, "Ever since Harry was first born, I've cared for him with all the love and care possible. Unlike Norman, I've looked out for him all the time, and I've always tried to make everything positive for him. I want to raise him and watch him grow up, but I can't do that if my less-caring husband takes him away from me. Harry, I love you, and I will always protect you."

"Norman, it is now your turn," the judge said.

Norman got up and walked to the podium, prepared to take Emily down and steal Harry from her.

"I know how Harry feels about me. I know I haven't always been there for him or my wife. But I love that boy." He paused to look at him. "He's my son. Emily is the one with problems. She's always accused me of being a bad father and a failure as a person. All I've tried to do is support my family with everything I have. And I feel I've done a great job at doing so. I have a very successful company that has put Harry through school and has provided Emily with great things that she loves. So, yes, I'm not always there for them, but I am damn sure that I am a better fit for Harry than my wife is."

Norman glared at Emily before sitting back down.

* * *

"Any plans for Homecoming, nerd?" Gwen playfully asked Peter as they walked around the school building.

It was a casual day like this where Peter didn't have any homework, so he decided to hang with Gwen for a while.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Peter responded. "Harry asked Liz this morning, so I'm gonna be going with his group."

"Yeah, I saw it on Snapchat. Has Flash gotten a date yet?"

"He says he's gonna go solo this year," Peter responded.

"What about you? Do you have a date?"

"Nah, who'd wanna go with a nerd like me?"

"Well, you never know who'll say yes." Gwen encouraged.

In his mind, Peter said, " _Screw it."_

"So...Homecoming. The two of us, huh? What do you say?" Peter nervously asked.

Gwen smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

"Well, why would the popular Gwen Stacy say yes to me?"

"Maybe because she's a nerd, too."

"So, here's what I'm thinking. What's your favorite candy? I'll try and make a poster board and-"

"Don't," Gwen interrupted. "It's cool. I don't need a poster or anything like that. A simple asking is good enough for me."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

* * *

"After hearing from both parties, I hereby grant Emily Osborn full custody of Harry Osborn. Norman will have no visitation rights unless Emily can no longer care for Harry," the judge declared as he banged his gavel.

Harry had a mixed look on his face while Norman's was beyond furious.

"You're fucking joking, right?!" Norman roared as he stood up. "Emily has been-"

"More of a parent and human being than you've ever been!" Emily angrily interrupted. "He's way better off with me, and I know for a fact that he'll be happier! The only thing you care about is your company, Norman!"

"You stupid bitch! After everything I've done-"

"EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE?!"

The judge had the most annoyed look on his face.

"That is enough, Mr. Osborn! One more outburst from you, and I'll hold you in contempt."

After that, Norman sighed and tried to stay calm, despite how difficult it was.

"You know what? I'm fine," Norman declared, holding his hands up. "I'm just fine. I'm not upset anymore. Maybe Harry's better off with Emily. I'm just…I'm just excited to see what happens next."

An evil smile crept up Norman's face as he thought of his next move.

* * *

"Almost done," Peter told himself as he tried to put the finishing touches on his new invention.

His pictures of Spider-Man had brought him a good amount of money from the _Bugle_ , and Peter had been spending the last couple of weeks working on a tracker. He called it the Spider-Tracer. It was shaped like a spider and could help him track down his enemies.

Plus, it would be essential in tracking down Fisk, who he had been trying to track down for a while now.

Peter attached the spring-loaded tracer to his web-shooters and put his costume on, ready to finally take down Kingpin.

* * *

"Hurry up now. The Kingpin's gonna be pissed."

"Give us a damn second."

In an abandoned junkyard, four of Fisk's men were making a drug deal with some big-time dealers. Known throughout New York for their high-quality meth, these guys were not the kind of people to mess with.

Unfortunately, those guys were for another time. Fisk and his men were Spider-Man's priority today.

After the drug deal was done, Spider-Man snuck out of his hiding spot and stealthily attached his tracker to the truck once the men were inside.

* * *

That night, Kingpin's nightclub was chaotic. Bright lights and music, drinking and partying, people dancing everywhere. Obviously, Peter couldn't get in because he was only seventeen. But for Spider-Man, that wouldn't be a problem.

Outside of the back of the nightclub, four guarded man were making sure no one could get through the door in the back. Spider-Man made his dramatic appearance, and under thirty seconds later, the gunmen were all incapacitated.

"Geez, put up more of a fight next time!" Spider-Man scolded.

Kicking the door down, Spider-Man walked inside and took out the rest of the guards. Before he could even enter the Kingpin's office, Fisk busted his door open and came out with a shotgun.

"I've been waiting for this, Spider," Fisk said.

"You kill innocent people-" Spider-Man started.

Spider-Man was interrupted by a bullet coming his way, and he jumped out of the way. Dodging a second bullet, Spider-Man grabbed the gun and snapped it in half.

"You sell drugs to children!" Spider-Man yelled as he threw a punch.

Shockingly, Fisk caught Spider-Man's fist, which caught the teen off-guard. In his year of fighting crime, Spider-Man had never met a non-mutated or armored villain who was close to him in strength.

"What the hell?" Spider-Man exclaimed.

Fisk smirked and threw Spider-Man back across the hallway. Spider-Man quickly crawled across the wall and lunged at Fisk, who grabbed and pinned him down onto the ground. Spider-Man dodged a punch, which smashed the floor. Desperately, Spider-Man headbutted Fisk, who only experienced mild pain. Fisk punched Spider-Man across the face and slammed him against the wall.

"Your death could've been quick and painless. Now imagine what I'm about to do to you!" Fisk snarled as he started to choke Spider-Man.

Spider-Man tried punching Fisk across the face, though it didn't help much. A seventh punch was enough to knock Fisk back a little, and Spider-Man shot some webs at Fisk's legs. With all his fury, Spider-Man swung Fisk into his office, crashing him into his desk and computer.

"Fucker!" Fisk yelled as he grabbed a swirling chair and threw it at Spider-Man.

Spider-Man quickly ducked and webbed Fisk's hands and feet to the wall.

"You little shit! I'll-"

Spider-Man webbed Fisk's mouth shut.

"You'll what? You didn't finish!"

Spider-Man grabbed Fisk's telephone and dialed 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Hey," Spider-Man said. "You gotta get the cops to-"

Fisk ripped the webbing off and ran at Spider-Man, who jumped onto the wall. Spider-Man webbed Fisk's face and slammed it against the desk. Fisk ripped the webbing off and lunged at Spider-Man, smashing them both into another hallway.

Fisk threw more punches, which Spider-Man dodged. Loud music was blaring from the club floor behind the wall.

"Don't you ever learn?" Spider-Man asked as he dodged another punch.

Fisk kicked Spider-Man down. He then grabbed Spider-Man's leg and slammed him repeatedly on the floor and wall. Fisk threw Spider-Man back onto the ground, and the hero groaned in agony. Spider-Man shot a web, which Fisk caught. Chuckling, Fisk threw Spider-Man into the wall, sending him onto the DJ floor in the club.

The DJs cut the music. A mix of excitement and panic hit the partying attendees.

"Oh, shit!"

"That's Spider-Man!"

"Am I dreaming?"

"What's he doing here?"

Sirens started blaring, and the attendees all started screaming and fleeing the area. Spider-Man turned to see Fisk gone, and he painfully got up.

Outside of the club, Fisk was running as fast as he could, only for cop cars to surround him.

"Get down on the ground now!"

"Surrender, or we will open fire!"

"Stand down, scumbag!"

Having no other choice, Fisk slowly got down and put his hands up. Captain Stacy went over to handcuff Fisk, only for the Kingpin to stupidly grab him by the throat. Stacy quickly tazed Fisk for a few seconds, knocking him out.

* * *

In his mansion, Norman was sitting in bed, watching the news. There was nothing but hatred in his heart. Sure, he hadn't always treated Harry well, but he still loved his own son.

"This just in, around thirty minutes ago, the NYPD arrested Wilson Fisk after finding incriminating evidence in his famous club 'The Holster'. In his computer were various criminal files linking to gangs, the Mafia, and his own criminal organization known as The Enforcers. According to video footage, the vigilante known as Spider-Man sent the call during a brutal fight. Let's just say, he's lucky to have made it out alive."

The anger couldn't leave Norman's head. He quickly grabbed the remote control, only to unintentionally crush it. Shocked, Norman threw it aside and got off the bed. He grabbed the door handle but accidentally ripped the door off.

"What's happening?!" Norman exclaimed as he ran down the staircase.

" _Unlike Norman, I've looked out for Harry all the time."_

Norman yelled as he collapsed on the ground.

" _I want to raise him and watch him grow up, but I can't do that if my less-caring husband takes him away from me."_

Norman's fingernails extended into claws, and his already muscular exterior started to grow.

" _All you do is cause trouble for people."_

Norman yelled louder than he ever had as he felt his body mutating. His painful yells started to transform into maniacal laughter.

* * *

Harry had spent two hours doing homework in the school library with Peter, Gwen, Flash, and Liz, and he was ready to relax.

He wasn't that upset that his mom had gained custody over him, and they were living with Emily's sister until they found a place for themselves. While he was walking to his aunt's house, he could've never imagined what happened next.

Too shocked for words, Harry dropped his backpack as he saw his aunt's house covered in flames and falling debris. Harry's Aunt Martha and the neighbors were watching, and firefighters were doing their best to put out the fire.

"MOM!" Harry screamed as he tried to run inside the burning house.

One of the firefighters restrained Harry.

"Let go, let go! You gotta let me in! My mom-"

"I'm sorry, son! We're doing our best!" the firefighter apologized.

Eventually, two firefighters came out, holding Emily.

"MOM!"

Harry broke free from the firefighter and ran over to his mom, who was being put into an ambulance.

"Mom, please! Stay with me! Ple-please! Mom!" Harry begged as tears started going down his face.

Emily slowly grabbed Harry's hand.

"Harry…"

* * *

In the waiting room at the hospital, Harry had been waiting with Aunt Martha, Gwen, Flash, and Liz for the past hour. Harry and Aunt Martha couldn't stop crying.

"I'm here!"

Everyone turned to see a bruised Peter run in.

"What the hell is happening?" Peter asked.

Harry hugged his friend. "My aunt's house caught on fire somehow. They still can't find out how the whole thing happened."

"What? I'm so sorry, man," Peter apologized.

Peter especially felt genuine sympathy, as he knew better than anyone else in the room what it was like to lose a parent. Twice.

"What the hell happened to you? Why is your face all bruised?"

Before Peter could answer, a nurse walked towards Harry. The stressed look on the nurse's face already gave an answer.

"She didn't make it. I'm so sorry," the nurse apologized.

Overwhelmed with grief, Harry and Aunt Martha started crying. Harry collapsed to his knees in tears, and his aunt joined him. Peter exchanged sympathetic looks with his friends, and he went to go hug the two. Gwen did the same, and Liz followed. Flash was the last to go over and throw his arms around the group.

If Harry's life wasn't already bad, it had just gotten much worse.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Homecoming.**


	5. Homecoming

**Chapter 5: Homecoming**

Today was a day Harry Osborn never saw coming: his mother's funeral. He may have had a difficult childhood growing up with his father being so successful, but he lost his only parental figure, and he never thought he would be able to move on. If he didn't feel that lonely before, he sure did now.

At the burial site, Harry was standing over his mother's grave when Peter walked up to him.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I can only imagine what you're going through."

"I'm sure you can, with your uncle and everything," Harry countered.

"Yeah, but this was your mom. I never knew my parents, so I can only sympathize with you."

"I know, but your uncle was like your father, wasn't he?" Harry asked.

Peter nodded. "Yeah. He was."

"What am I gonna do? Now, I'm stuck living with my dad again," Harry worried.

"You'll get through it, Harry. He loves you," Peter honestly assured.

Harry shook his head. "He loves Oscorp and rubbing his success in my face. He doesn't love me."

"But he's your dad. Of course he loves you."

"I just don't know what to do. My mom handled this stuff way better than I can. I always let my dad walk over me, and my mom would always stick for me."

"Now, you have to do it yourself. I know you can. And I'll always be here for you," Peter promised.

"Thanks, Pete," Harry said before hugging him.

* * *

"Gentlemen, you wanted to see me?" Norman started as he entered the Oscorp boardroom.

"Have a seat, Norman," senior vice-president Charles Standish said.

Norman sat down in his chair and prepared to hear what his board members wanted to say to him.

"Norman, after your failure with re-creating a better super-soldier serum, the board has decided to ask for your resignation unless you can successfully complete it. The issue is not the failure, but it is the fact that it is costing the company so much money. You will run it into the ground."

"Charles, you can't do this," Norman said as he stood up. "I own this company. I started it. You can't fire me!"

"But we can all quit, and you can run this company on your own with no one to help you or watch you succeed."

Norman glared at the man that he appointed so high to the board. This is what his life and career had come to: failure. He had to fix the serum, or else his life would be over, and he would have nothing left.

* * *

Norman was hard at work in his laboratory, trying his absolute best to fix the failed serum. As he was experimenting, he started to hear voices in his head.

" _Did you think this was a coincidence?"_

Norman shook his head in disbelief. That voice...it sounded just like his own.

"What?" Norman asked himself.

" _Emily dying. Did you think this was a coincidence? You lose your son, and she suddenly dies?"_

"I don't understand. You killed her?" Norman wondered.

" _We killed her. Together."_

"What are you talking about?"

" _The super-soldier serum. It worked. You created me, us, something truly remarkable."_

"You're crazy," Norman said.

" _We are."_

Norman couldn't help but believe what the voice was telling him. The serum had worked. What Norman had been experiencing was life-changing and felt amazing. He couldn't make any changes to it.

"You're right. It did work."

* * *

Harry and Liz were at the Moondance diner, just trying to relax.

"Sooo, Homecoming's in a week," Liz nervously pointed out. "Did we discuss the corsage and everything else yet?"

"I don't think I wanna go," Harry sighed.

Liz was barely upset. She couldn't blame the poor guy. He _had_ just lost his mother.

"I understand," Liz told Harry.

Liz moved closer to Harry and started rubbing his back. "Hang in there, Harry."

"I'm trying," Harry said. "It's just so hard. The woman who raised me from birth, and now, she's, like, gone."

"My abuelo died when I was really young. It was the worst thing ever, but I had my family to help me through it. Since then, I've learned to be stronger."

Harry didn't respond as he was too busy burying his head in his hands.

"Whether we go to Homecoming or not," Liz started. "I'll completely understand. You do what you have to do."

Harry brought his head up and looked at her. "You know what? We'll go. I want to try and make the best of it."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely. My mom wouldn't just want me staying at home and moping around. I gotta go and try to have fun."

Liz hugged Harry. "Good for you, Harry. I'm proud of you."

That wasn't something he heard too often, and it felt good to hear.

* * *

Harry was getting ready for Homecoming in his bedroom when his father walked in.

"I expect you home right after Homecoming. No parties or anything. You come straight here," Norman ordered.

"Yes, Father," Harry said resentfully.

"What's going on with you, Harry? You can barely be in the same room with me without getting snarky."

"Well, my mother just died. I'm sure that has something to do with it," Harry spat.

"It's more than that. I know you well enough."

"No, you don't. You never have. You pretend you know me so well, but it's all lies with you. Why do you even care when I'm home? You barely even notice that I'm there. And now that Mom's gone, it'll be even more quiet around here."

"Harry-" Norman started.

"I wish I wasn't stuck here with you. I should be with Aunt Martha or Peter or anyone else that cares about me. Not you," Harry growled before storming out.

" _Follow him."_

Norman shook his head. The voice was back in his head, and he couldn't get it out.

"What?"

" _Follow him. Ruin his night."_

"But I don't want to hurt him," Norman confessed.

" _So don't. Go to that school, and scare the hell out of your son. You must convince him to stay here."_

* * *

Homecoming was exactly what anyone would expect at a school dance. Bright lights, music, teenagers in fancy attire yelling and dancing everywhere. This was Peter's first time going to a school dance, and he also had a date, so no pressure at all.

Peter was wearing his uncle's old black suit from the 80s, a blue clip-on tie, and a blue boutonniere. Gwen was wearing a white dress, huge earrings, and a blue corsage. Harry was wearing a red suit, a red bowtie, and a red boutonniere. Liz was wearing a gold dress and a red corsage. Flash was wearing a black suit and green tie. The dance was taking place in the gymnasium, and it was already chaotic within the first ten minutes. Peter's group consisted of Gwen, Harry, Liz, Flash and a mix of nerds and popular kids.

"Alright, guys, let's do this!" Flash shouted as he and most of the people in the group ran into the mosh group.

Harry chuckled. "Liz and I both agreed we're not gonna get stuck in the mosh pit. Screw that."

"You remembered," Liz joked as she grabbed Harry's arm.

"So, Pete, I believe it's time for you to show me your moves," Gwen teased as she grabbed Peter's hand.

Butterflies formed in Peter's stomach, and Peter smiled. "Okay."

Peter and Gwen walked towards the dance floor, a little far away from the mosh pit, and they began dancing together. Harry and Liz were also dancing right near them.

"You ever dance before?!" Gwen yelled over the loud music.

"No way!" Peter shouted as he did what he could.

After a few minutes, a slow dance song hit the stage.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY, MOST OF YOU GUYS CAME HERE WITH A SPECIAL LADY TONIGHT! NOW, SHOW THEM WHAT YOU GOT!" the DJ announced.

A majority of the attendees started to slow-dance with their dates.

"So, sh-shall we?" Peter stuttered.

Gwen laughed and placed Peter's hands around her waist. She put her own hands around Peter's neck, prompting the nerd to blush harder than before.

"Can't believe this is happening," Peter muttered.

Gwen's smile widened. "What was that?"

"I just can't even process that this is happening," Peter repeated louder.

"Well, life surprises you," Gwen chuckled.

"Oh, trust me. I would know," Peter genuinely responded with a smile.

Gwen and Peter's faces got closer to each other.

"Are you having fun?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, definitely," Peter responded.

"So, Pete, I'm thinking, after this, would you wanna come over and maybe hang out?"

Before Peter could answer, all the hairs on his body started to tingle.

"EVERYONE, GET DOWN!" Peter shouted.

Peter grabbed Gwen's hand and pulled them onto the floor. The dancing teens obviously were unfazed by a nerd's warning, but a second later, an explosion hit the ceiling, and a majority of the students were thrown onto the ground. Everyone looked up to see a figure with green-and-purple armor, a demonic mask on and flying on a glider.

"Oh, no," Peter said.

The attendees and chaperones started screaming and fleeing the scene, and before Gwen could get back up, Peter was gone.

"Peter?!" Gwen yelled in worry.

Without any other choice, Gwen ran out of the gym. Harry and Liz were also making their way out, only for a bomb to fly towards the students. Fortunately, a web grabbed it and swung it back towards the intruder, although he simply turned his head to dodge it.

"Well, look who was upset over not getting a date!" Spider-Man joked as he swung onto the gym.

The intruder menacingly laughed as the bomb exploded behind him.

"Well, that was creepy," Spider-Man commented.

The figure flew right towards Spider-Man, who jumped right over him and shot a web at the glider, yanking it and forcing the intruder to jump onto the ground, pulling Spider-Man with him.

"Anyone ever give you a name? Ghoulish Goblin or something like that?"

"I'll squash you, you little bug!" the Goblin roared.

Spider-Man and the Goblin charged at each other, only for Goblin to throw Spider-Man through the bleachers. Spider-Man jumped out and shot webs at Goblin's legs. Spider-Man then swung Goblin around the gym and right onto the ground. Spider-Man dove in for a punch, only for Goblin to jump out of the way. Spider-Man deflected most of Goblin's punches, but Goblin managed to kick Spider-Man across the face and tackle him to the ground. Goblin started relentlessly pummeling Spider-Man's face.

"Why, you little shit! I'll rip all your intestines out!" Goblin yelled.

"Not cool, dude," Spider-Man groaned as he tried to dodge most of the punches.

Before Goblin could throw another punch, a foldable chair hit him in the back of the head. Goblin looked to see someone holding it.

"Leave him alone, shithead!" Flash declared, holding the chair in defense.

Goblin lunged at Flash, but Spider-Man grabbed him from behind and threw him aside.

"Thanks, kid," Spider-Man thanked.

"Anytime, Spidey! Go get him!" Flash replied.

Goblin summoned his glider and jumped onto it. He flew right at Spider-Man, who grabbed onto him. They flew out of the hole in the ceiling into the skies of New York.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Spider-Man and Green Goblin's first fight.**


	6. Green Goblin

**Chapter 6: Green Goblin**

"I'm too short for this ride!" Spider-Man complained as he held onto Goblin, who flew through the city.

"Shut up!" Goblin shouted as he grabbed Spider-Man and threw him towards a building.

Spider-Man swung towards the top of the building and landed on the roof. The Goblin took some bombs out of his glider and threw them at the webslinger. Spider-Man jumped and dodged them, evading the explosions. Parts of the building started falling towards the ground.

"No, not again!" Spider-Man cried, recalling Valeria's death.

Spider-Man jumped and grabbed some of the debris with his webbing, preventing it from hitting civilians. Goblin flew towards Spider-Man, who threw the debris towards him.

"You fool," the Goblin growled, punching through the debris.

Goblin jumped onto the roof, and they engaged in combat. Goblin dodged and blocked most of Spider-Man's punches and kicked him down. Grabbing Spider-Man, Goblin slammed him repeatedly against the roof. In pain, Spider-Man shot webbing at Goblin's face, causing him to drop the hero in confusion.

"Can't see anything now, can you?" Spider-Man taunted as he delivered a roundhouse kick to Goblin, sending him across the roof.

The glider flew right at Spider-Man who stepped aside to dodge it. It flew back at Spider-Man, and he jumped over it this time. Unfortunately, Goblin got up to punch Spider-Man in the face and ignite blades from his arms.

"Oh, God!" Spider-Man yelled as he dodged the blades.

"Is that all you got, Spider-Man?" the Goblin taunted.

Spider-Man grabbed Goblin's arm and threw him across the roof, but Goblin managed to land swiftly. Goblin swung at Spider-Man with his arms, only for the hero to grab Goblin's face and smash him into the ground. He stomped on Goblin's back and punched him in the face, knocking him down.

Not even a minute after all that ensued, helicopters were heard. That was a familiar sound to Spider-Man.

"Oh, great," Spider-Man groaned.

"NYPD!"

"Put your hands up now!"

"Surrender, or we will open fire!"

Spider-Man swung away, avoiding heavy gunfire. Unfortunately, one of the bullets shot the web, causing the hero to fall down.

"Gah!" Spider-Man exclaimed as he shot another web towards a building and swung to it so he could crawl away to safety.

Spider-Man looked around and saw no signs of the Goblin in sight.

"Where did he go?" Spider-Man wondered before swinging away.

* * *

Peter walked in the front door of his house before Aunt May ran up to him in fear.

"Peter, are you okay? I heard about what happened at the dance. Are you hurt?" Aunt May asked.

"I'm fine, Aunt May. Don't worry about me."

"I always have to worry about you, especially with your uncle gone. I can't let the same thing happen to you. I can't. I don't know what I would do with myself," Aunt May confessed.

"Aunt May, I promise you I'm fine. I can take care of myself."

"But it's my job to take care of you. Your job is to stick through school and graduate, and then you can take care of yourself."

"I'm already doing that. I might as well take care of myself now so I don't have to worry so much about the future. I know how hard everything has been for you since Uncle Ben died. That's why I need to take care of myself so I can take care of you," Peter said.

"You really are like your uncle. Always thinking about others," Aunt May said before hugging Peter. "I love you, Peter."

"I love you, too," Peter said before holding her tighter.

* * *

Laying in bed, Peter was feeling a mixture of exhaustion and pain. After that brutal fight and comforting Aunt May, it felt good to be under a blanket. Before he could go to sleep, his phone started ringing.

"Hello?" Peter asked, picking the phone up.

"Peter, Peter! Are you...you're okay, right?!" Gwen's worried voice blurted out.

"Yeah, I got home safe. Before then, I tried looking for you, but I got separated."

"It's alright. I'm so glad you're okay. I haven't heard from them, but I know that Harry, Liz, and everyone else are doing good, too."

"Good to hear. Look, I'm so sorry we didn't get-" Peter started.

"Don't blame yourself, Pete. When there's a psychopath dressed like a demon attacking, what else can you do?"

"True. I hope to see you again soon," Peter said.

"Without a doubt."

* * *

It was a typical Sunday night for Gwen. Instead of hanging with her friends, she went to the library to get some studying done, especially with the large amounts of quizzes she had in the coming week. She'd spent four hours there, and now it was time to relax.

After taking the bus home, Gwen stepped inside her house and threw her backpack aside. Taking her jacket, shoes, and socks off, Gwen sat on the couch and turned on the TV. A few minutes later, her dad came home.

"Hey, Gwen. How did the studying go?" George asked his daughter.

"Alright. Boring as hell, but I should be able to pass all my exams this week."

"That's good," George responded before taking out some popcorn.

"Anything interesting go on at the station?" Gwen asked.

"Always. But today, we were discussing that whole chaos at your Homecoming dance that was caused by Spider-Man and that Goblin creature."

"Typical, Dad. Always hating on Spider-Man."

"I'm telling you, Gwen. For the past year, Spider-Man hasn't made a single difference in New York. If anything, he's done more bad than good."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "So, he didn't stop that Kraven guy? Or the Vulture? Bad guys like them are in prison because Spider-Man stopped them."

"That's not the point. When has Spider-Man ever tried to save anyone? Essentially, he's killed tons of people," George said.

"Kraven and Scorpion killed tons of people," Gwen countered.

"No. Spider-Man killed tons of people. If he really tried, people wouldn't have gotten hurt in those attacks. Count the casualties from Vulture's final attack. Or when your friend died during the Scorpion attack. All those people are dead because of Spider-Man."

"He was NOT responsible. Those people are dead because of the people who committed those crimes," Gwen spat.

"Let's be honest. In the past year since Spider-Man first appeared, more criminals have been coming out of the shadows. The crime rate hasn't gone down."

"I thought you liked to think the best of people, Dad," Gwen pointed out. "Spider-Man is one of those people. He helps you do your job."

"Trust me, I want to believe the best in people. But try telling that to the relatives and friends of the ones caught in that menace's crossfire. And just yesterday, this Goblin creature attacks your school during an event where you and your classmates were supposed to have fun! And guess who else happened to be there?"

"Nobody got hurt!"

"I could've lost you, Gwen!"

Gwen shook her head and got up.

"You know what? You literally sound like that Jameson guy who trashes Spider-Man all the time. You're no better than him," Gwen said before she stormed upstairs to her bedroom.

* * *

Back at school on Monday, the school was still reeling over the Goblin's attack at prom. Because of the destruction in the gymnasium, athletic classes and programs were canceled until further notice. This gave students time to study or use their time for a free period.

Peter and Harry were studying in the school library when Peter's mind flashed back to the dance. He hadn't spoken to Harry since the incident, and he knew his friend was hurt about his fight with his father, so he felt the need to address it.

"Harry?"

"What is it, Pete?" Harry said as he wrote notes down.

"How are things with your dad now? Is everything okay?"

"Eh."

"Eh?"

"It means they're alright," Harry sighed as he closed his textbook. "He seemed a bit concerned after Homecoming, but he wasn't that worried about me. So, I spent the night at Liz's."

"Sooo…" Peter teased. "You guys-"

"Finish that sentence, and I'll skin you alive."

The two friends laughed.

"How about you and Gwen?"

"Well, I got separated from her when all that stuff happened, so I just called her when I got home," Peter lied.

"You feel any sparks with her?"

"For now, no," Peter said, unsure.

"Pete, I'm just saying, the fact that you went to Homecoming with Gwen Stacy doesn't sound like a coincidence. I mean, she's just like you. Smart, awkward-"

"Fuck you, man," Peter laughed.

"I'm serious, though."

"Look, that's not why I wanted to talk, Harry. I wanted to talk to you about your dad, not about Gwen."

"What else is there to talk about?"

"Harry, I understand what you're going through with your father. Right before my uncle died, we got into an argument, and I still regret it to this day," Peter confessed.

"What are you trying to say?" Harry asked.

"I don't want you to live your life full of regret. I don't want your relationship with your dad to get any more worse than it already is. You should try to fix it while you still can. I can't fix anything more between my uncle and I, and it kills me every day."

"I didn't know you had to go through that. I'm sorry, Pete."

Peter nodded.

"You're right. Somehow, things need to get better, and they need to get better now," Harry declared.

Peter patted his friend's back in support of his decision before they walked off to class together.

* * *

After school, Peter was walking out of the _Daily Bugle_ , having turned more Spidey photos into Jameson. Though the pay wasn't the best, it was always better than nothing.

"Good ol' Jameson," Peter sighed, walking onto the sidewalk.

Peter's phone started ringing. He took it out to see that it was Gwen surprisingly.

"Hey, Gwen," Peter greeted.

"Hey, Pete. You doing anything this Friday?"

"Let me check." There was a pause so Peter could pretend to look at his schedule. "Nope! Why? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking we could go hang out, just the two of us. Maybe grab some dinner?" Gwen asked.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Peter asked in shock.

"Maybe I am," Gwen chuckled.

"I'm down," Peter confirmed.

"Awesome. I'll text you later."

"Perfect. See you at school tomorrow."

"Later," Gwen said.

Peter hung up the phone and yelled in victory. Unfortunately, his celebration was interrupted by sirens.

"Oh, great. What else is new?" Peter said before running into an alley to change into his costume.

Not even a minute later, Spider-Man was swinging through the sky towards the sound of the sirens as he continued his normal day-to-day routine.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Peter and Gwen's date.**


	7. The First Date

**Chapter 7: The First Date**

"Parker! In my office!"

Unsurprised, Peter sighed as he walked into Jameson's office, where his boss's face was turning red.

"So I hear there was an attack at your school! Let me ask you something. Why don't I have any pictures?!" Jameson roared.

Taken aback, Peter scoffed, "Maybe because I was running out of there, trying to make sure I wouldn't get blown into a thousand pieces?"

"What did you say, Parker?"

"Nothing. My point is, it was too dangerous for me to get any photos at that point. Plus, I didn't even have my camera on me!"

"Well, that's why your camera's your best friend. Keep it around wherever you go. You never know when it'll be useful," Jameson advised.

"Jameson, with all due respect, I'm only freelance-"

"We've had this discussion before, Parker! Your status doesn't excuse-"

"Jameson!" Betty interrupted, walking in. "Your wife's on the phone. She says it's time to take your pills!"

"You tell my wife that those pills can wait! That stuff isn't important when our paper-"

"Jameson! She's really starting to worry about your health, so give Pete a break, and take your damn pills!" Betty demanded.

Somehow not finding the courage to yell at his young secretary, Jameson calmly stated, "Fine."

Peter walked out of the office with Betty.

"Thanks, Betty," Peter thanked with every piece of genuity in his body.

Betty pat Peter's arm. "Anytime, bud."

"The dude's just insane sometimes. It doesn't seem like he even gives a shit about us," Peter pointed out.

"Join the club," Ned agreed from his desk. "He threatened to take away my pay for two weeks if I skipped work for my cousin's funeral."

"That's just cruel," Peter commented.

"I mean, I only started off working here to make money for college, and somehow I'm still here," Betty chuckled.

"Who knows how much longer I'll last here," Peter sighed.

"I don't know, Pete. There was that episode you had," Ned reminisced.

"Well, yeah, but that was justified."

"True, but you still made history that day," Betty said.

Peter shrugged. "Guess I should be proud."

* * *

In his room, Peter couldn't think of the perfect outfit. After trying on different kinds, he was still frustrated.

"Damn it. May!" Peter yelled.

Aunt May came into the room. "Yeah, Peter?"

"Still have no idea on what to wear. You're a girl. Help me out!"

"Alrighty. Let's see," May said, looking through Peter's closet. "Now, you don't want anything way too fancy on the first date. Go for something a bit more casual-"

"I probably screwed up. It's been, like, 30 years since you've been on a date," Peter groaned.

"Being 55 doesn't stop me from giving you the best girl advice you'll need," May laughed. "And FYI, your uncle and I started dating in high school, got married in '87. He was the only guy I ever went on dates with."

"Heard this a million times," Peter reminded May.

Ignoring what her nephew said, May brought out an outfit for Peter to wear. "Try this on."

Peter put the outfit on, and the look on May's face approved.

"You're all set, kiddo!" May declared.

Peter was wearing a light blue Henley shirt, black jeans, and white Converse.

"Damn, I'm looking hot," Peter commented, looking at himself in the mirror.

"Oh, I've got one more thing for you," May announced, leaving the room.

Coming back in around thirty seconds later, May presented a silver watch to Peter. It was a watch that Peter definitely recognized.

"Your uncle would want you to have this," May insisted, handing the watch to Peter.

Putting the watch on his wrist, Peter closed his eyes, bringing his mind back to that fateful day when his uncle was found dying. He had been wearing that exact same watch, which is what caused Peter to recognize him in the first place.

"Ben…"

Aunt May's eyes widened. "Crap, I did not think this through. Peter, are you gonna be okay wearing it, or should I just put it back?"

Sighing heavily, Peter responded, "No, I'll be okay."

May smiled. "Okay, Pete. I'm glad to hear that."

Aunt May sat on Peter's bed, though the teen could notice his aunt's eyes slightly watering.

"May, you alright?"

"I'm fine," Aunt May replied, wiping her eyes. "It's just that you're really growing up, Pete. Here you are, on your first date-"

"Well, technically it was Homecoming," Peter corrected.

"Yeah, but we all know how that went," May remembered. "This is just-"

"It's gonna be all right, May," Peter assured.

"Okay," May sniffled. "But just remember, if I find out that you got the NYPD captain's daughter pregnant-"

"May!"

"I'm kidding, hon. Just make sure you have a good time."

* * *

Sitting in the back of Aunt May's car, there were butterflies everywhere in Peter's stomach. Eventually, the car pulled up to Gwen's house, which was relatively big.

"Alright, go and get her," May encouraged.

Getting out of the car, Peter slowly walked up to Gwen's house. His trembling finger pushed the doorbell, and he calmly waited, trying to keep his composure. The door opened, and Peter saw Captain George Stacy there.

"Hey, son. You must be Peter," George assumed.

"Y-Yes, sir."

"I'm Gwen's dad. Put her there," George greeted, sticking his hand out.

Peter did his best to casually shake George's hand, and luckily, it seemed to work. Although Peter knew ahead of time who Gwen's father was, he couldn't stop the tingling sensation in his stomach, especially since it was well-known how George felt about Spider-Man.

"Dad?"

Peter and George looked to see Gwen walking towards the door. She was wearing a green blouse, ripped blue jeans, black-and-white Converse, and her usual wavy hair was straightened.

"Holy-"

Peter quickly shut up, remembering that Gwen's dad was there.

"You-You look…"

"Oh, it's fine, Pete," George assured. "She does look beautiful."

"Well, you look great, Gwen," Peter complimented.

"Thanks, Pete. You don't look too bad yourself."

"Alright, kids, you go and have fun. Remember, Pete, you better have her home before 11, or I'm gonna shoot you," George threatened.

"Dad!" Gwen interfered.

Peter didn't know how to respond.

"Just kidding," George laughed.

The three of them shared a laugh as Peter jokingly pretended to be wounded.

* * *

Peter and Gwen were at Joe's Pizza, which was commonly agreed upon as one of the best pizza places in New York. So far, Peter and Gwen somewhat had the same taste in pizza.

"Here you kids go. One large thick crust pepperoni and olive," the waiter repeated, placing the pizza on the table.

The waiter then walked away, leaving Peter and Gwen at their booth with the pizza.

"S-So, this is fun," Peter nervously stated, taking a slice of pizza.

Gwen took a slice as well. "Don't be so nervous, Pete. We're having fun right now."

"Good to know you're so open and comfortable with me," Peter joked. "I'm not very good at that."

"Hey, what can I say? I'm an open book."

"Oh, you are, huh?"

"Yep. So, besides being a huge nerd, what do you like doing in your free time?"

Chuckling, Peter answered, "Well, I like to build stuff, read, listen to '80s music."

"'80s music? Really?" Gwen asked, surprised.

"Call me old-fashioned, but it's better than most of the music out there now."

"I couldn't agree with you more, actually," Gwen said with a smile.

"How 'bout you, though? You got any other hobbies besides being smart and cute?"

Laughing, Gwen answered, "I watch a lot of old movies, go out with friends. I used to do theater when I was younger."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, as a kid, it was pretty much normal for me to sing and act on the stage. 2009 came along, and I magically lost all interest in it and picked up a textbook instead," Gwen explained.

"What changed about it? There had to have been something that made you lose interest."

"I'm not really sure. I think I probably just grew out of it and found a new passion."

"You ever wonder what life would've been like had you not quit?"

"Of course I do. Who knows? I could've been one of those big theater kids at school like Mary Jane Watson or Lilly Reynolds."

"I still always ask myself how different life could've been if my parents hadn't died when I was a kid," Peter admitted.

"I'm really sorry to hear that, Peter. I can't imagine how hard that must be," Gwen sympathized.

"It's fine. All I can imagine is I might've gone to a different high school, made different friends, been bullied by different douches."

"Oh, yeah, I heard you beat up Flash last year," Gwen unsurprisingly stated.

"In my defense, he was just being a dick, and he did swing first," Peter revealed.

"I mean, it doesn't matter anymore, I did hear you guys are friends now."

"Yeah, he's been really cool to me."

Gwen took another slice. "To be honest, I'm not really sure if most of my close friends really understand me that much."

Pretending not to know what she meant, Peter asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you know the crowd I hang with most of the time. They're spending most of their time at parties, getting drunk, smoking weed, hooking up. That's never really been my thing."

"I agree. That stuff's just dumb," Peter said.

"They're just people trying to have fun, but it doesn't really do you much good in the end. I've always tried to get Liz and the others to stop, but they don't listen to a word I say."

"Why do you still hang out with those kinds of people, then, if you don't agree with their lifestyle choices?" Peter asked.

"Because they're still my friends. They're not different people for the most part."

"Well, I'm glad you view it that way," Peter admired.

"Thanks, Pete. Plus, when you have a cop for a father, he can always drug test you when he gets suspicious."

The two laughed over the irony. Almost done with the pizza, Peter decided he was full.

"You want the rest?" Peter offered.

"Sure."

Gwen took a slice. For the rest of their date, Peter just couldn't stop smiling and laughing.

* * *

Peter and Gwen were walking outside an ice cream shop, talking the night away, and if Peter was being honest with himself, he was really starting to like Gwen.

"I guess it's safe to say this night went well," Peter admitted, looking at his mint-chocolate chip cone.

Gwen took a bite of her cookie dough cone. "Agreed."

"It's crazy what's happened since we've met. We studied together, went to Homecoming, and now we're on a date."

Gwen nodded. "Life's just been crazy lately."

Finishing up their ice cream cones, Gwen asked, "Hey, it's only 8. You wanna come over and hang out for a bit?"

"Okay," Peter answered.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	8. Meet the Parents

**Chapter 8: Meet the Parents**

A bored Harry was lying on his bed, looking at Snapchat. Opening up Peter's story, there was a photo of Peter and Gwen at the mall, with the caption "Hangin' with this girl!"

"Lucky you," Harry sighed.

"Harry!"

Harry looked to see Norman open the door to his room.

"Dad?"

"Harry, I was thinking, would you like to go get lunch or something?" Norman asked.

Hesitating, all Harry could manage to say was, "Okay..."

* * *

"And he literally has to leave after half an hour due to some 'important work business,'" Harry recounted to Peter in the school cafeteria.

"Well…he tried," Peter pointed out.

"He doesn't try enough," Harry complained. "And whenever he does, it never works out well."

"It's like what I said before, Harry. Your dad's a busy dude, and-"

"Pete!"

Peter and Harry turned to see Gwen sitting down at their lunch table. She had orange round glasses on.

"Look who it is," Harry chuckled.

"Well, well, well, what's with the new look?" Peter joked.

Gwen shrugged. "I was too lazy to put in my contacts today."

"Too lazy doesn't sound like the Gwen I know," Peter teased.

Gwen laughed and punched Peter in the arm.

"Anyways, Pete, guess who wants to meet you?" Gwen asked.

"Who?"

"My parents. I mean, technically you met my dad a month ago when he threatened to shoot you, but you haven't met my mother yet," Gwen answered.

Peter gulped. "Really?"

"Yep, I've been bragging to them about the Einstein you are."

"I don't know. What if I, like, say something completely stupid or-"

Gwen pat Peter's shoulder. "Hey, we've hung out a few times since our pizza date. You're a natural. You should be fine."

"Hopefully I will be. What do you think, Harry?"

Peter turned around, only for Harry to be gone.

"Now, I feel stupid," Peter admitted.

"Sooo, tonight?" Gwen asked.

"I mean, I-I might be busy," Peter lied.

"With what?"

 _Fighting bad guys_ , Peter thought in his head.

"Fighting bad guys," Peter blurted out.

"Sureeee," Gwen scoffed. "C'mon, Pete, tonight. My house. You're gonna be there."

"Looks like there's no other way out of this."

"Nope."

* * *

In Peter's room, Aunt May was helping Peter prepare his outfit for his dinner with Gwen's parents. As always, she always had the best taste in clothing.

"Alright, blue collar shirt, khaki pants, dress shoes, and you're all set," Aunt May said.

"Sweet. Aunt May, I gotta ask, how'd it go the first time Uncle Ben met your parents?" Peter questioned.

Aunt May's face cringed at the thought of the memory.

"Okay, now you gotta tell me," Peter insisted.

Aunt May sighed. "Fine. Sit down, Peter."

Peter and Aunt May sat on the bed.

"So, my freshman year of high school, your uncle was always the nerd who nobody ever really sat at lunch with. He never really got picked on, but he didn't really have any friends to talk to."

"How 'bout you?" Peter asked, genuinely curious.

Aunt May smiled. "Well, let's just say I did a lot of things in high school I'm not proud of. I still remember just hanging with the jocks, smoking with the other cheerleaders-"

"Okay, okay, go on, please!" Peter interrupted.

"Well, as much as I don't want to admit it, it's true. Eventually, my sophomore year, I started dating this guy named Brad, and it was great for the first couple of months."

Aunt May hesitated a little before continuing, "One night, though, Brad and I were kissing in a diner. Ben happened to be there with his friends. Brad really wanted to go further, but I wasn't ready yet. He didn't listen, and I made a scene. Ben swept right in and gave him a broken jaw."

Peter's eyes widened. "Holy crap. Uncle Ben was a badass?"

Aunt May nodded. "Pretty much. He brought me over to his friends and held me until the cops came for Brad. Never saw that son of a bitch again."

"Wow."

"Yep. Two weeks later, I was kissing Ben at his house, and then your grandpa and father walked in. Being the scared teenage kid he was, Ben got on his bike and rode off."

Peter couldn't stop laughing.

"Many dates and years later, we were married."

"Well, I just learned more about you and Uncle Ben than I ever thought I would," Peter admitted.

Aunt May nodded. "Looks like you did. We should probably get you going now. You don't want to be late."

"Thanks, May. I'll meet you at the car in a few minutes." Peter thanked.

May walked out, patting Peter's back. "Anytime, kiddo."

* * *

Peter rang the doorbell to Gwen's house with butterflies still everywhere in his stomach. After what felt like five years, a middle-aged blonde woman bearing a strong resemblance to Gwen opened the door.

"M-Mrs. Stacy, so nice to meet you," Peter greeted with a nervous smile.

"Peter! So nice to meet you! Come on in," Mrs. Stacy happily replied, giving the nervous teen a hug.

Mrs. Stacy brought Peter into the dining room where Mr. Stacy and an eight-year-old blonde kid were waiting.

"Peter, so glad you could make it!" Mr. Stacy stated, shaking Peter's hand.

Mr. Stacy brought Peter over to the young boy. "This is Gwen's brother, Phil."

"How you doing, buddy?" Peter asked, giving the kid a high-five.

"You dating my big sister?" Phil asked.

Before Peter could respond, Gwen appeared and chuckled, "Who knows, Phil?"

Peter's eyes instantly turned to Gwen and her outfit, which comprised of a blue off-shoulder top and black leggings.

"Holy...y-you l-look great, Gwen," Peter complimented.

"One month later and still stuttering. Thanks, Pete," Gwen laughed.

"Alright, guys, I got my famous lasagna ready!" Mrs. Stacy announced.

They all sat down and started eating.

"So, Pete, where you thinking of going to school?" Mr. Stacy asked Peter.

"Well, Mr. Stacy, right now, I'm thinking of possibly Columbia or NYU," Peter revealed.

"Nice! By the way, you can just call me George," Mr. Stacy insisted.

"And I'm Helen," Mrs. Stacy said.

"Good to know. How long have you been a cop, George?" Peter asked.

"Let me tell you, Peter, I've been in the force for over twenty years, and I've experienced a lot of irritating crap. However, nothing this bad had ever interfered with me and the force until that Spider-Man came in," George answered.

The rest of the family groaned.

George shrugged. "What?"

"Here we go again, Dad," Gwen sighed.

"George, you should probably just give this Spider-Man a break," Helen suggested. "I mean-"

"I'm sorry, Helen, it's just impossible to. Nearly every day, he's causing problems for us."

Peter put his glass of water down. "George, with all due respect, how specifically has he been bothering you and the force?"

"Oh, Pete, I could go on for hours. Our pay gets docked with every crime we can't stop because of him, and that freak causes collateral damage everywhere he goes."

"I wouldn't necessarily say everywhere, but-"

"And that's not even the worst part! Gwen's told me you're very smart, one of the best in your school. Do the math. All these bad guys started emerging after Spider-Man came into the city, and look what's happened in the past year. He and the Vulture nearly take a bridge down, he gets a classmate of yours killed-"

"He did his best, George," Peter defended.

"Dad, come on. Don't bring Valeria into-" Gwen started.

"With everything Spider-Man has tried to do, there's always been a negative outcome. For example, when that Shocker attacked, it caused a lot of damage. And don't even get me started on how many people died when that hunter attacked. I could've had my men there and finish the situation before Spider-Man had time to swing there."

"Then, why weren't they?" Peter asked.

It was that moment where Peter literally regretted what he said not even a second after saying it.

"Excuse me," Peter excused himself, getting up from the table. "I have to use the restroom."

Gwen got up as well. "Peter-"

Peter searched as fast as he could for the bathroom. He walked inside and tried to shut the door, only for Gwen to grab it and walk inside.

"Gwen, it's gonna look really bad if we're both in here," Peter pointed out.

"Then, let's go for a walk," Gwen said.

* * *

Peter and Gwen were walking outside the building when Gwen grabbed his hand.

"Pete, don't let my dad get to you like that. He's gone through some bad shit in the past few years."

"He's honestly not wrong," Peter irrationally said.

"Don't talk like that. Valeria's death wasn't your fault. Spider-Man couldn't save her in time."

"Gwen, you already know the whole story about it. Tell me with a straight face that if I had gotten a cop sooner-"

Gwen grabbed Peter's face. "Peter, you did everything you could. Now, let's go back in there and-"

"I honestly think I should go home," Peter muttered.

"What?"

"Gwen, I don't know if I'm the right guy for you. You honestly belong with someone much better than me. Just because we have the same interests doesn't mean-"

"It means that you _are_ the right one, Pete. Those people don't understand me the way you do. You're not focused on trying to be cool. You're just a good guy."

Peter smiled a little. "So are you. I mean..."

Gwen laughed. "It's okay. I know what you meant."

The two stopped and just looked at each other.

"This is probably really awkward for your family right now. If we don't go back, they'll be wondering where we are, and your dad would freak, and-"

"Peter."

Peter's heart started pounding.

Gwen wrapped her arms around Peter's neck and kissed him. Peter's eyes widened in shock, and he found himself wrapping his arms around the girl that gave him his first kiss. After a few seconds, Peter and Gwen stopped and looked at each other once again.

"What was that?" Peter asked.

"I think that was pretty obvious, Pete. I just kissed you," Gwen answered.

"Soooo, are you into me?"

"I thought I made that pretty clear. But let's check again."

Peter nodded and brought her in for another kiss. However, Peter's phone started buzzing, and although he ignored it to enjoy the moment, the caller ID read: "Harry Osborn."

* * *

When he got home after reconciling with Gwen's father, Peter saw that he had a missed call from Harry. Laying on his bed, Peter called Harry back.

"Peter, what happened to you? I tried calling you."

"I know, Harry. I was at Gwen's house, remember?" Peter reminded him.

"Oh, right. How'd that go?" Harry asked.

"Well, it started off pretty bad. I kind of got into a heated debate with her dad."

"You fought with a police captain?!" Harry asked in shocked.

"Yeah, I'm surprised he didn't arrest me," Peter said with a laugh.

"How'd the rest of the night go? It had to be awkward."

"Well, I tried to leave, but Gwen stopped me. She pulled me outside and convinced me to man up, and then she told me that she liked me."

"Did you make a move on her?" Harry asked.

"She kissed me."

"WHAT? No, no fucking way! I'm proud, dude!"

"Well...yeah. I'm still kind of in shock, but we're definitely together."

"That's great, Pete. Are you and her dad okay now?"

"I think so. I apologized, and he accepted, but I don't know how crazy he is about me dating his daughter. I'm kind of worried that I made the worst first impression impossible and that he'll always be bitter around me," Peter confessed.

"Well, if you're okay now, what's your concern?"

"He hates Spider-Man. Remember? He issued an arrest warrant on him."

"Oh, yeah. You were pretty pissed about that," Harry remembered.

"Well, Spider-Man is what this dilemma was about. That's what we argued about."

"Look, Pete, if you want the guy to like you, you have to let it go. I know you don't want to because I know how much you like Spider-Man, but you don't want to disappoint Gwen. Do this for her sake. If her dad ends up hating you, she probably won't stay with someone who disagrees with her dad," Harry assumed.

"Yeah, but, Harry, she doesn't agree with him, either. She knows Spider-Man is a hero."

"Peter, trust me. Just don't bother with it. You have to accept that this guy hates Spider-Man. You seem to tolerate Jameson even though he despises him," Harry countered.

"That's different. That guy could fire me," Peter said.

"But Gwen's dad could come between your relationship."

Peter really thought about what his best friend was saying. Even though Gwen on his side, she was the most important thing to him, and he couldn't let anything come between them, not even her father.

"You're right. So, why did you call?" Peter asked.

"Oh, yeah. Did you hear the news?"

"What news?"

"Remember how that Fisk guy got busted?"

Peter's heart raced in his chest. He didn't get released, did he?

"Yeah. What about him?"

"Well, it's not about him. Somebody else seems to be giving him a run for his money," Harry told him.

"What are you talking about?" Peter asked, confused.

"Some guy named Hammerhead is being named the new crime boss. He murdered triple the amount of people Fisk supposedly had killed."

"Has anybody stopped him yet?" Peter started getting worried.

"Nobody knows where he is," Harry answered.

"I bet Spider-Man could find him," Peter declared.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Spider-Man vs. Hammerhead.**


	9. Hammerhead

**Chapter 9: Hammerhead**

In his mansion, a tall and burly man with combed black hair and a hammer-shaped face stood before his family and henchmen. As a kid, he had always dreamt of this: becoming the most feared crime boss in the city. Now that Wilson Fisk was out of the picture for the time being, his dream had finally come true.

"My family. Friends. All of you from the Hammerhead family! I've waited since I was eleven years old for this moment, and it's here. It took us a lot to get here, but well, here we are!" Hammerhead started off.

The Hammerhead family started laughing.

"Though we did lose some of our people in the process, they didn't die in vain. By taking reign of this city, we'll make Wilson Fisk look like a nobody! We're gonna take every rotten part of this very squalor and make it pure. We're gonna do beautiful things. And we'll start by doing what Fisk couldn't. We'll kill Spider-Man."

Hammerhead and his family held up their wine glasses.

"Salud!"

As the family started laughing and talking, Hammerhead sat at the couch with his new second-in-command Lonnie Thompson Lincoln, or as people liked to call him, 'Tombstone'. A muscular African-American man, Lonnie took pride in his looks.

"Lonnie! How's it feel to be a part of the family?" Hammerhead excitedly asked.

"Already feels thrilling. Should be more exciting than any of the bullshit Fisk had ever assigned me to," Lonnie chuckled.

"You made the right move coming over here after Fisk's arrest. You're gonna do great business here!" Hammerhead assured.

"What's the story with you, bro? Why you into this whole gangster shit?"

Hammerhead sighed. "As a kid, my father was the kind who made no right decisions, you know? Scammed a lot of people. Now, one of those people happened to be a successful surgeon. Lost his medical license all because of my father. Funny, huh?"

"Nah, man, sounds sorta fucked up."

"Absolutely. That surgeon took me to the back of an alley, and he just pummelled me across the face until nobody could recognize me no more. My dad hired the best doctors in New York to patch me up. Though the best they could do was reinforce my entire skull with some powerful metal shit. Explains why my head is shaped like this."

"Damn, man, that's crazy."

"You wanna know what's crazier? Follow me."

Hammerhead got up and left the dining room with Tombstone following him. Hammerhead led Tombstone to the garden where a blindfolded man was tied up and on his knees. Two henchmen were watching over him. In front of the man was a briefcase.

"Look at this little prick right here!" Hammerhead scoffed. "This man worked with Fisk for a decade, and after his big boss goes to jail, I decide to offer him a chance! An opportunity to have some real fun with us! And what does he say?"

Hammerhead cocked a gun and aimed it at the man.

"Say it. Repeat it before I blow your head off."

"We're all loyal to Fisk," the man groaned.

"See? To celebrate our new reign and your addition to this family, you can do whatever you want to this man! Just make sure he isn't breathing by the end of the night," Hammerhead rewarded.

Tombstone nodded, genuinely happy. "Got it."

Hammerhead pat Tombstone's shoulder and walked back inside along with his two henchmen. Enthusiastic, Tombstone opened the briefcase to find torturous weapons everywhere.

"Interesting."

"No, no, please! I'm begging you, sir! Please, I got a f-fa-family-" the man blubbered.

"That's what everyone says," Tombstone sighed.

Tombstone then closed the briefcase with another plan in mind.

"Why, all this when I can just do this?"

Tombstone grabbed the man, punched him in the face, and slammed him down to the ground. Tombstone then proceeded to savagely stomp on the man, allowing him to bleed out.

* * *

"Help!"

Swinging throughout the city, Spider-Man's Spider-Sense immediately started tingling at that yell. Spider-Man quickly swung into an alleyway where he found a muscular man holding a gun to a woman's head.

"Help, please!" the woman pleaded.

"Don't be stupid. Let the lady go!" Spider-Man demanded.

The man smirked. "Gladly."

The man let go of the woman, who took a machine gun out of her purse and fired bullets at the hero, with the man doing the same. Spider-Man jumped and crawled across the brick wall, dodging the bullets, and then yanked the guns away with his webbing.

"What the hell, lady?!" Spider-Man yelled in anger. "I could have been killed. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Spider-Man then pulled back his fist and sucker-punched the woman to the ground.

"Huh. Never thought I'd hit a woman."

Spider-Man turned to the man, who was fleeing. Spider-Man quickly shot a web at the man and pulled him back into the alleyway, dragging him by the leg.

"You, talk! Who sent you guys to kill me?"

The man simply smiled. "We're gonna do what Fisk couldn't: burn this city down, and rebuild it into something beautiful! And to do that, we're taking you out. Without you, it'll-"

A punch to the face knocked the man out.

"You talk too much."

At that moment, a truck pulled up in front of the alleyway, blocking Spider-Man's exit. Five armed men came out of the truck with machine guns.

"Oh, shit."

Spider-Man shot webbing at the guns and men's legs, causing them to hit each other and trip everywhere. Before Spider-Man could get away, one of the men took out a grenade. Spider-Man swung away as fast as he could, though the grenade blew up a decent amount of the alleyway. It was just miraculous that nobody else was there during that time.

"Damn Hammerhead," Spider-Man sighed, swinging away.

* * *

Nearby, Hammerhead's next plan was about to begin. But he also had something else in mind.

"What the fuck were you thinking?! He knows we're after him. He could alert every damn cop to our presence!" Hammerhead yelled at the muscular man from earlier.

"But the cops have an arrest warrant on him. Who's to say they wouldn't go after him? He's not a friend of theirs." the man pointed out.

Hammerhead punched the man across the face, causing his nose and mouth to bleed.

"For what you've done, you must be punished."

"Hammerhead, please. God, please! Four years together-"

Tombstone appeared from behind and started strangling the man. Hammerhead slowly took out a pistol and fired point-blank.

"Time to go to work," Tombstone said.

* * *

BOOM!

On top of a building, Spider-Man saw smoke rising from a bank nearby. Sighing, Spider-Man swung over. He avoided and incapacitated the armed man outside of the bank and ran inside. There were a few hostages on the ground.

"This again?" Spider-Man scoffed, genuinely annoyed.

Armed men were inside the bank.

"Alright, then. Piece of cake."

"Not necessarily."

Spider-Man turned around to see Hammerhead standing at the entrance of the bank.

"Look who it is, the itsy bitsy spider-"

"Stop it. I hate that song," Spider-Man said while covering his ears.

"Well, Spider-Man, this may seem easy for you. But it won't be in-"

Even more armed men burst through the entrance, and explosions blew the walls open, with more men coming in and aiming their guns at Spider-Man. There had to have at least been forty men in there.

"Am I dreaming?" Spider-Man asked himself.

"Freeze!"

Much to Spider-Man's relief, a few police cars and trucks pulled up with cops coming to surround the armed men. Unfortunately, the amount of cops was way lower than the amount of hostiles.

"Get down, or we will open fire!" one of the cops yelled.

A cop fired the first shot, ensuing a shootout. Spider-Man had been involved in gun fights, but they were a walk in the park compared to this. While dodging the bullets, Spider-Man did his best to fight some of the armed men. The hostages had hidden behind furniture or desks.

"I'm gonna need a break after this!" Spider-Man declared as he webbed up some armed men.

Luckily, the hostages had taken the opportunity to flee through the nearby exit. Unfortunately, so did Hammerhead.

"Damn it!" Spider-Man muttered as he ran out of the bank to find Hammerhead running down the steps.

Spider-Man shot a web at Hammerhead's leg, pulling him down. Hammerhead took a shotgun out of his jacket and started shooting at Spider-Man, who dodged the shots. Hammerhead cut the web off his leg and took out a grenade. Hammerhead threw the grenade, though Spider-Man grabbed it and threw it as high as he could at the sky. Hammerhead took a machine gun off of one of the unconscious men armed from earlier, but Spider-Man ran over and kicked it out of his hands. Hammerhead grabbed one of Spider-Man's punches and headbutted him to the ground.

"What the hell is with your head?" Spider-Man groaned as he rolled over to avoid Hammerhead's stomp.

Spider-Man did the first thing he thought of, which was to kick Hammerhead in the groin, causing the crime boss to fall in pain.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Spider-Man asked as he stood over the groaning criminal.

Spider-Man punched Hammerhead in the side, knocking him over.

"Look, this has been fun and all, but-"

Hammerhead quickly took out a taser and shot a wire at Spider-Man, electrocuting him.

"Guess we're even," Spider-Man coughed as he struggled to get up.

"That's what happens when you're too cocky," Hammerhead mused as he pulled out his shotgun and aimed it at Spider-Man's head.

Bullets started hitting the surface at Hammerhead's feet, forcing him to run. Hammerhead shot at the police while running and avoiding them, and he escaped in his van with a few of the remaining men. As for Spider-Man, he was nowhere in sight.

* * *

"Holy shit, man," Harry commented.

School was rough because Peter had a bruise on his forehead from his battle with Hammerhead that hurt like hell. It felt like he had a major headache.

"What happened, bro?" Flash asked.

"Fell on my head outside the other day," Peter quickly lied.

"If you fell right on your face…" Harry wondered.

"Shouldn't you have gotten a black eye or something worse? Missing teeth?" Flash questioned.

"Guys, it happened the way it did."

Gwen walked over, and her smile faded once she saw Peter's bruise.

"Crap, babe, what happened?" Gwen fussed, feeling her boyfriend's forehead.

"Fell on my head."

Gwen kissed Peter's forehead. "That looks pretty serious."

"Sooo, let's be positive," Flash suggested. "Anything new, guys?"

"Liz and I are hanging out this weekend," Harry announced.

"Good for you, man!" Peter congratulated as Flash gave Harry a fist-bump.

"Yeah, it'll be nice. Haven't had much fun since my mom died."

"I'm looking into the winter play since football season is over," Flash admitted.

"You? Acting?" Peter asked.

"No offense, Flash, but you don't really strike me as the type who'll get on stage and perform Broadway magic," Gwen chuckled.

"I'll be fantastic," Flash bragged. "All the hotties will be coming on to me."

"Oh, Gwen, how's your dad taking that bank incident with Spider-Man?" Peter asked.

"Oh, he just hates Spider-Man even more now with a burning passion. Obviously, he has a grudge against this new Hammerhead guy since he's being called the new Wilson Fisk, but three of his men were killed. He blames Spider-Man for motivating the men to go after him," Gwen vented.

"I don't know your dad that well, Gwen, but he might top Jameson as the biggest Spider-Man hater ever," Harry said.

"Even more than you?" Gwen asked.

"I may not be the biggest fan of him, but I wouldn't say I hate him. Your dad just wants to rip his head off," Harry responded.

"True," Flash agreed.

* * *

At Hammerhead's mansion, the crime lord was addressing his family.

"We failed. WE FAILED!" Hammerhead ranted, banging his hand onto the table. "I had him, and the stupid cops had to intervene."

"Good thing I wasn't there," Tombstone sighed of relief. "Sounded like a shitstorm to me."

"You're not helping," Hammerhead scolded. "You weren't even there."

"I'm sorry, but we both agreed I should take at least a short break before going back into all that crime."

Ignoring what Tombstone said, Hammerhead continued, "It's official. The cops need to go. We need them begging at our feet."

"Good luck with that. You can't take out the whole NYPD."

"Watch me," Hammerhead said with a glare before he pulled back his fist and knocked Tombstone out unconscious.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Spidey vs. Goblin Round 2.**


	10. The Goblin's Fury

**Chapter 10: The Goblin's Fury**

"Mr. Osborn, it really pains me to tell you this, but I'm not sure if you'll be financially secure to run your company."

"What are you talking about?"

Norman was meeting with his accountant Dale, who didn't have any good news for the business mogul.

"I built this company myself! And now you're telling me I can't fund it?!" Norman yelled.

"By yourself. Ever since the board council members threatened to quit, there's a high chance that you'll have to fund this company on your own, Norman. With the amount of projects that Oscorp has been going through, and the large amounts of fines that the company has to pay for the failed experiment-" Dale continued.

Norman grabbed Dale's throat, choking him.

"I'm one of the richest, if not the richest, men in this damn city! There has to be something I can do!"

After a few seconds of Dale choking, Norman came to his senses and let him go.

"Jesus, Dale, I-I don't know what came over me. I'm really sorry."

Annoyed, Dale responded, "I'm sorry, Norman. But sometimes rich men can't always get what they want. Realistically, after everything that's happened with this company, from the Vulture attack to now, people won't want to work for a company like this. It's tainted. Give it a year or so, and this company will go bankrupt."

Norman didn't know what to do. His life and career would be over if he let Oscorp go under. He needed to come up with a plan to save his company.

* * *

Sitting on the couch with a wine bottle, a whirlwind of negative thoughts and worries couldn't stop running through Norman's head.

" _Those council members doomed you."_

" _After this, you'll be nothing."_

" _You're pathetic."_

" _Kill them."_

" _Make them bleed!"_

" _Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!"_

Norman threw the wine bottle at the fireplace. In rage, Norman fell to his knees.

"No, not after last time. No, no! I can't let it happen!" Norman desperately exclaimed.

" _We'll see about that."_

Norman turned to the mirror, to find an angrier reflection of himself looking at him.

"No."

" _Oh, yes. Those fools cheated you, burned you to the ground. Why not do the same? For your company? Your son?"_

Norman knew he no longer had a choice. If he wanted to still have a stable career and provide for his son, he needed to do anything that was possible.

"I'm gonna show them something they've never seen before."

Norman walked into his lab where the same demonic green-and-purple armor was waiting for him, along with the weapons and glider.

* * *

At Oscorp Tower that evening, the board members were having a small meeting regarding Norman's involvement in the company.

"So, after the recent turn of events, and Norman's failure to recreate the super-soldier serum, I think we can all agree that we will all resign and allow Norman to run the company on his own," Charles Standish reminded everyone.

The members all nodded.

"I will be starting a rival company that will put Norman Osborn out of business, and I would like you all to join me. Norman won't know what will hit him."

Before the board members could respond, the Green Goblin crashed into the room, determined to make his plan successful.

"I'll be the judge of that!" the Goblin roared before throwing razor blades at the members, killing them instantly.

Charles was the only one not hit, and that wasn't an accident. Charles tried to run, though a bomb blew up the exit, causing more destruction to the building. The Goblin flew in and grabbed Charles by the throat.

"Funny, Charles. I first remember meeting you. The first thing you ever said to me was, 'We're gonna do great things together.'"

"Norman?!" Charles exclaimed in horror.

"You guessed it! How are you imagining this will go? I would've killed you more simply, but since you had to piss me off, you're gonna die a quick, brutal death."

Goblin flew out of the building and threw Charles as high as he could into the sky. Laughing, Goblin pulled out a pumpkin bomb and threw it into the sky as well. All he could do after that was admire the explosion in the air.

* * *

"Why do you still have that creepy-ass devil costume?" Spider-Man asked while swinging onto the tower. "Nice bomb design, by the way. Halloween was a while ago."

"Spider-Man! Nice of you to show. This time, you're not leaving alive!" Goblin declared, flying to the top of the tower.

Goblin threw two pumpkin bombs at Spider-Man, who jumped over the first one and swung the second one back at Goblin, who merely shielded the explosion with his arms. Goblin's glider ignited some blades, and as he flew at Spider-Man, the hero jumped over the villain and yanked the glider away. Goblin fell onto the tower and Spider-Man grabbed the glider. Spider-Man then plunged the glider into the roof.

"You little prick," Goblin hissed as he lunged at Spider-Man, who blocked his punch.

Spider-Man engaged in some hand-to-hand combat, mostly deflecting the Goblin's strong hits. Eventually, Spider-Man grabbed Goblin's arm, punched him in the face, and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him down.

"I think you can do better than this, Gobby," Spider-Man said.

Goblin quickly got back up and threw some razor blades at Spider-Man, who leapt over them. Goblin pulled out a dagger and swung it repeatedly at Spider-Man, who dodged and eventually grabbed it. Goblin and Spider-Man fought for control of the dagger, though Goblin managed to plunge it slightly into the hero's shoulder.

"Ah!" Spider-Man shouted as he headbutted Goblin and threw him across the roof.

Goblin quickly pressed some buttons on his arms, and the glider broke out of the roof and flew right at Spider-Man. It bashed him in the head and knocked him right off the roof. Goblin jumped right off the roof and his glider met his feet. Spider-Man attached a web to the glider and shot some web darts, which the Goblin deflected. The glider also started shooting some bullets at Spider-Man, forcing him to let go and free-fall. Looking inside the Oscorp building, the Goblin could see frightened workers fleeing. Spider-Man quickly attached himself to the side of the building.

"Let's make this more fun," Goblin mused as he threw a bomb through the building.

"NO!" Spider-Man screamed as he swung inside.

Inside of the burning part of the tower were four females and two males. No pressure at all.

"You can do this, you can do this," Spider-Man told himself.

Police cars and trucks surrounded the building, and four police choppers started to fly around the building.

"Oh, thank God!" Spider-Man celebrated as he saw the helicopters.

"Stand down, Spider-Man, or we'll open fire! That goes for you, too, you green freak!" Captain Stacy demanded from one of the helicopters.

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me. Captain Stacy, listen to me! I'M TRYING TO HELP!" Spider-Man yelled. "How irritating can this get?"

"I'm with you on that, Spidey," the Goblin agreed. "Allow me to take care of it."

He took out a bomb, though Spider-Man grabbed onto him before the Goblin could throw it. With all his effort, Spider-Man threw Goblin into the building. Spider-Man then jumped onto Goblin and pummelled him with his fists, temporarily knocking him unconscious.

"Help, please!" one of the women yelled.

"Grab onto me, two of you!" Spider-Man instructed.

Two of the women held onto Spider-Man's back as the helicopters flew closer to the tower. Spider-Man handed them to the police, and did so for most of the other workers. There was only one man left, who was too paralyzed with fear to move. Spider-Man ran over to the man and tried to help him.

"Come on, man, we gotta go. We have to go now!" Spider-Man shouted.

"It's too late. We're all gonna die!" the man groaned.

Spider-Man looked closer to find blood on the man's chest.

"Don't worry, man. The hospital can patch you up. It'll be fine-"

"Watch out!" the man screeched.

"Behind you!" the police yelled.

Spider-Man turned around and slammed a now-awake Goblin in the face. The cops opened fire on the Goblin, but their bullets didn't do anything against his armor. However, the floor started to collapse, including the part with the man.

"NO!"

Spider-Man shot a web and caught the man, but the Goblin sliced the web with a razor blade, and it was now too late. The man had fallen into the burning flames.

"Looks like you really can't save everyone," Goblin mocked.

Captain Stacy and the other officers continued shooting the Goblin to no avail. Spider-Man yelled in distress and pinned the Goblin against the wall.

"Captain Stacy, you have to get out of here now!" Spider-Man yelled.

"We're not leaving until that monster is dead!" Stacy declared.

"GO! I'll handle it!" Spider-Man screamed.

As the police helicopters flew away, Spider-Man punched the Goblin across the face multiple times, smashing the helmet quite a bit. Goblin countered by slashing Spider-Man across the stomach and delivering a roundhouse kick to his face. Knowing how vengeful Spider-Man was in this state, Goblin knew he had no other choice. While Spider-Man struggled from his injuries, Gobin summoned the glider and flew away before Spider-Man could get up.

When the hero stood up, the Goblin was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

"Peter, I'm home. Iot your favorite lasagna, and-"

Aunt May opened the door to find her nephew with bruises on his face and bloody clothes on.

"Holy shit, Peter!" Aunt May squealed, running over to Peter. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Stumbled upon some angry gang members. Didn't have money," Peter coughed.

Tears started going down Aunt May's face, ruining her mascara. "Alright, let me call Gwen's father-"

"NO! Don't call 911."

"Peter, this is insane-"

"May, if you call the cops, that gang will know it was us. Plus, the medical bill isn't gonna be cheap, and you know how Jameson is with my paychecks."

"Peter, are you sure-"

"I'm fine. Don't you have a first-aid kid or something?!"

Aunt May left and came back with her first-aid kid.

"Alright, hon, take off your shirt."

Peter took off his shirt, revealing the wound in his shoulder and slash across his stomach. It also didn't help that Peter had a black eye. Aunt May started to tear up even more.

"Peter, you have to tell me who did this to you. Was it Flash?" Aunt May asked.

"No, Aunt May. Flash and I are friends now," Peter confirmed. "It was just some douches who were trying to be scary, and they got violent with me."

Aunt May wiped her tears and ruined makeup off and started to tend to Peter's injuries.

"Peter, let me just call Gwen's father. He'll put an arrest warrant out, and he'll find the guys who did this to you."

"May-"

"Peter, this isn't the first time this has happened! I've seen you with injuries several times now, and whenever I confront you, you always give some sort of weird explanation. I'm calling Captain Stacy whether you like it or not," Aunt May declared before storming out.

Peter couldn't stop thinking about the man who died, and he started to cry.

"Babe, it's gonna be fine," Aunt May assured as she walked back in with her phone.

"It's not that, May."

"Then, what is it? Open up, Peter."

Shaking his head, Peter just continued crying, and his head collapsed against Aunt May's belly.

"Honey, it's gonna be okay," Aunt May promised as she kissed Peter's head.

* * *

At the precinct, a bruised Peter was sitting across from his girlfriend's dad in an interrogation room, not knowing what to expect.

"Peter, tell me what happened."

"I already told you, George," Peter said.

"Look, I talked to your aunt, and she told me that this isn't the first situation you've been in that is similar to this."

Peter looked down, ashamed that he had to continuously lie to his aunt so he didn't have to tell her his darkest secret.

"Peter, your aunt cares about you, Gwen cares about you. After I told her what happened to you, she rushed over here. She's with your aunt outside. They both want to know what happened. You can't keep hurting the people you love, Pete. You'll end up having no one left."

Peter looked at him, afraid that the police captain was starting to feel the same about him that he did about Spider-Man.

"Captain Stacy, I want to talk about this, but I don't want Gwen or my aunt listening."

Wondering what Peter had to say, George got up and pressed a button against the wall, turning off the one-way glass so that nobody outside the room could hear or see what was happening inside.

"Tell me, Peter," George said as he sat back down.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	11. Explosion

**Chapter 11: Explosion**

"I'm Spider-Man," Peter revealed.

"What?"

"It's true. I'm Spider-Man."

George shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "Son, if you're screwing with me-"

"Why the hell would I lie about something like this?!" Peter exclaimed. "Especially after what you saw tonight? I'm only telling you this because I need you to understand that I'm a good guy."

"Peter, h-how the hell is this possible? A kid like you-"

"Over a year ago, I was bitten by a genetically-modified spider at Oscorp. You know how Osborn wants to enhance the human race? Well, he experimented on the little things, and since then, nothing's been the same. I haven't told anyone because I need to keep my identity a secret. If someone were to find out, I could lose everything. I already lost my uncle. I can't lose anyone else. Not May, not your daughter, not anyone else."

"Jesus…" George sighed.

"Please, Captain Stacy. You have to promise me you're not gonna tell anyone."

"I have to say, Parker. You have guts, telling me something like this. If I were in your position, I'm not sure I'd do the same," George admitted.

"So, is that a yes?"

"You don't have an approval. What I do have is an offer."

"What do you mean?"

"Peter, you're a good kid, and my daughter, as well as your aunt, is very lucky to have you. From what I saw tonight, you're just a guy who wants to do what's right for everyone in this city. You don't have to, but you choose to. However, you're still a kid, making you all that more vulnerable."

"What are you saying?"

"As the NYPD Captain, I'm asking you to cease crime fighting. I've realized that you've done a lot of good for this city, but from this moment forward, the station and I will handle future threats. As I speak, several units are hunting the Goblin right now. Your life will be in danger if you continue this, Peter."

"Sir, I can't stop this. My job is to protect people," Peter defended.

"No, Mr. Parker, that's my job. Your job is to go to school and get a good education so you can have a successful career in life. Superheroes don't get paid for crime fighting, you know. You're a bright kid, and a great future is inevitable for you. Gwen tells me you like photography and work for the _Daily Bugle_. I'd hate to see that all thrown away because you're lying dead in a puddle of blood on the street."

Peter stood up and looked Captain Stacy in the eyes. "Mr. Stacy, I won't give up being Spider-Man."

"Well, then, I'll have you locked up, and your identity will be revealed to the public. I truly am sorry, Peter, but I don't want to see you get hurt or killed. And I know Gwen and May don't, either," Captain Stacy threatened.

Peter's heart raced. This was the hardest choice he had to make. He either had to give up what he loved most, or he would be sent to prison and lose everything. Captain Stacy was right. He had a great future ahead of him. But he tried to imagine his future without Spider-Man, and he didn't like it. Spider-Man helped the crime rates go down. If Spider-Man was gone for good, then the city would forever be at risk.

Instead of giving a response, Peter stormed out, leaving Captain Stacy speechless.

* * *

"Is it time, boss?"

"It's time. Let's make everyone burn," Hammerhead declared.

Six armored trucks pulled up to the NYPD station. Hammerhead drove one of the trucks, viewing the station with an evil glare. Tombstone sat next to him in the passenger seat, nervous yet excited.

"Are you sure about this? If this goes to shit, then you have no one but yourself to blame."

"Shut it, albino. Nothing bad's gonna happen. We've been preparing for this, and we know what we're doing. Besides, if I get caught, you're going down with me."

Tombstone scoffed. "Whatever you say."

Armed men started coming out of the trucks, and they all kicked open the doors to the station, opening fire. Some of the officers were shot while others ducked under their desks. They pulled out their guns and started shooting back, though the henchmen's better weaponry put them at an advantage. George panicked and opened fire on the men with a machine gun. However, a bullet hit him in the shoulder, knocking him down. He yelled in pain as he dove under his desk, avoiding the bullets.

"Captain! There's too many of them! We can't stop them!" a cop yelled.

"But I know somebody who can," George declared.

* * *

Peter was lying on his bed, looking through his Instagram, bored. After Peter's talk with Captain Stacy at the station, George had lied and tied up all loose ends to Aunt May and Gwen, though he was serious about arresting Peter if he risked his life ever again. It had only been two days, and Peter was already bored out of his mind.

BRIIING! BRIING!

Peter didn't recognize the caller ID but answered his phone anyway. "Hello?"

All Peter could hear was screaming and gunfire, until George shouted, "Peter!"

"Captain Stacy? What's going on?"

"Look, Peter, it was never my intention to put you in harm's way, but we're severely outmatched here! You've beaten Hammerhead before. You can-"

"Hammerhead?! I'm on my way, sir."

Peter hung up the phone in a rage and started to put on his costume.

* * *

Back at the station, George and his men were still putting up a fight, though it wasn't long until a grenade was thrown in. One of the cops quickly ran over and threw the grenade back, which exploded in mid-air as it knocked the cop back and burned some of the armed men. George continued to take out the men with his gun, though he was almost out of ammo. An immense amount of dread went through the cops as they noticed one of the armed men pulling out a rocket launcher. However, a familiar web pulled it away.

"Okay, as a guy who's seen a lot, this is terrifying!" Spider-Man admitted as he avoided the bullets and started taking out the guards one by one. "But let's be honest here. You guys can't win."

Spider-Man swung a table at the rest of the men in the building, knocking them out. He ran outside and saw further reinforcements outside of the trucks. The last person that stepped out of a truck was Hammerhead himself. The men aimed their guns, though Hammerhead held his hand up.

"Wait! Leave the insect to me," Hammerhead gleefully stated as he cracked his knuckles, walking towards the hero.

Spider-Man quickly shot multiple webs at the men, tripping and knocking them over each other. He ran towards Hammerhead and started dodging multiple punches. Spider-Man pushed Hammerhead and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him down. Spider-Man then proceeded to web Hammerhead's legs together.

"Too easy," Spider-Man chuckled.

However, Hammerhead pulled a gun out of his pocket and started shooting at the hero, who dodged the bullets. Hammerhead then took a knife out and cut the webbing off his legs. Spider-Man swung back at Hammerhead, though the latter managed to grab and pin him down. In a rage, Hammerhead punched Spider-Man twice in the face and threw him onto the street. Spider-Man got back up, and his spider-sense warned him to jump over the armored truck speeding towards him. He then webbed the truck up to avoid damage.

"I'm getting really sick of you mafia guys," Spider-Man remarked.

Hammerhead walked over with a shotgun and aimed it at Spider-Man.

"I feel the same way about you," Hammerhead admitted.

However, a bullet knocked the shotgun out of Hammerhead's hand. Hammerhead and Spider-Man turned to see Tombstone with an assault rifle.

"I feel the same way about both of you," Tombstone remarked as he started firing repeatedly.

Hammerhead started running, though he was grazed in the leg and knocked down by his shotgun. Spider-Man jumped and webbed the rifle out of Tombstone's hands. Tombstone quickly pulled a pistol out of his jacket and started shooting at Spider-Man, who dodged the bullets. Spider-Man ran at Tombstone, who body-slammed the former to the ground. Tombstone started punching Spider-Man with his brass-knuckles, knocking him out momentarily. Tombstone walked towards Hammerhead and aimed his gun at him.

"You have too much power, Hammerhead. After the recent mistakes you've made, you're not deserving of this position. Someone's gonna take it away from you before you mess it up for the rest of us."

Hammerhead smirked as he quietly grabbed a knife in his pocket. "Think fast."

Before Tombstone could fire, Hammerhead quickly slashed Tombstone's arm, knocking his gun out. Hammerhead then grabbed his shotgun and shot Tombstone in the face, killing him instantly and knocking his body down.

Spider-Man came to to see the scene take place and wasn't surprised to see Hammerhead kill one of his own men.

Just in the nick of time, Spider-Man charged towards Hammerhead and sucker-punched him in the face before he could escape. That was when the police cars surrounded them, and the hero watched as Hammerhead was finally taken into custody.

* * *

In Captain Stacy's damaged office, he was having a conversation with the webslinger while his shoulder was bandaged up.

"Pete, I gotta tell you, you really saved us out there. I was wrong about you," Captain Stacy admitted. "You took out several guys out there."

"No hard feelings. All I wanted was for you to understand that I'm a good guy with good intentions. I just want to save people."

"I understand now, Peter. The city needs you. And I'm proud to stand by you."

Peter was proud to finally hear those words from his girlfriend's dad. It meant a lot knowing that he no longer needed to keep his biggest secret from him.

But Gwen could never find out.

"This is something I've gotta do for the rest of my life, Captain Stacy. When I didn't use my powers when I needed to most, my uncle was killed. Before he died, he always told me that with great power, there must also be great responsibility as well."

"I'm really sorry to hear that, Peter. I never thought about it that way," Captain Stacy apologized.

"It's fine. You didn't know. I couldn't tell you," Peter admitted.

"Does your Aunt May know?" Captain Stacy reluctantly asked.

Peter thought for a little before answering that. "No. Not yet. And I'd like to keep it that way."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: The main villain in Volume 3 will be introduced.**

 **Sorry for the hiatus.** _ **Avengers: Infinity War**_ **and personal issues took over our brains. Looking forward to finishing Volume 2 and bringing greater things to Volume 3.**


	12. Promises

**Chapter 12: Promises**

"If you don't mind me asking, when do you think that time will come?" George asked.

"Not sure. I prefer not to think about it," Spider-Man admitted.

"Sorry, son."

"You're fine."

"Well, I do need you to promise me something, though," George stated.

"Keep your daughter safe? Don't worry. It's been a priority of mine since we started dating," Spider-Man confirmed.

"Alright, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't constantly worrying about what might happen to Gwen after you told me."

"Can't say I blame you, Captain. She's your daughter. But I promise you I will always keep her safe."

George nodded. "Good."

* * *

"Seriously?"

"Yep. He showed up over an hour late. I acted like some psycho and called him out in front of everyone and stormed out of the place," Liz chuckled.

"Well, that's Peter for you," Harry admitted. "He does show up late sometimes when we hang out."

"So I've noticed."

"Why'd you even go out with him in the first place?" Harry asked.

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. I figured it was the least I could do since he tutored me."

Harry and Liz were taking a walk throughout Queens. Since Homecoming, the two had grown considerably close. A decent amount of snow was in the air, adding to the relaxing feeling.

"Anyways, how about you? Being the son of Norman Osborn, girls are probably tripping over each other to get to you," Liz joked.

"Believe me, it's not like that at all. That's only what people think."

"Yeah, your friends know who you really are, Harry. Me, Peter, Gwen, hell, even Flash at this point."

Liz held Harry's hand.

"How's everything been since…you know? Have things been getting better?"

Harry sighed. "I mean, this whole year was just insane. I lost my mom, Homecoming gets attacked, and my dad's fucking tower gets blown to pieces. It's all got one thing in common. That Green Goblin monster, or creature, or whatever."

"That shit with the Goblin is insane," Liz agreed. "I mean, what kind of world are we living in now?"

"Not a normal one for sure. All the shit going on with my family and Oscorp all started with that freak," Harry pointed out. "Makes me ask myself if things are ever gonna get better."

"I mean, there's Spider-Man."

"I get he's trying to be a good role model or whatever, but how much longer is it gonna take for him to kill that monster?"

"It's probably hard to be Spidey. Feeling like he's got the weight of all of New York on his shoulders, living in constant fear. That seriously has to suck," Liz pointed out.

"I mean, he's done so much, but at the same time, not enough," Harry admitted, sitting on a bench.

Liz sat next to Harry, putting her arm around his shoulder.

"You just gotta remember that your friends are always gonna be here, Harry," Liz promised. "If you ever need to talk, I'll always be here. And so will Peter. Even Flash."

Harry chuckled. "Thanks, Liz."

* * *

"So, this coming Friday night, at 6:00," Norman confirmed.

Norman was at a venue talking to the workers about renting it out for a fundraiser to hopefully raise some money for Oscorp.

"Okay, so just a reminder that that'll be $950," the worker stated.

"Shouldn't be a problem. For now."

Norman turned to his left.

"Max! Get your ass over here."

A brown-haired man in his early 30s walked over to Norman. "Yeah, boss?"

"Change of plans. I'm promoting you to head electrical engineer for the fundraiser. You've been with us for five years, so don't screw it up."

"Wow! Thank you, Mr. Osborn. I promise I won't let you down," Max exclaimed, elated.

"I'll leave you a list of instructions for set-up. Everything must be perfect. Oscorp's future depends on it. Now, get out of here."

"Yes, sir." Max hurried away.

Norman pulled out his phone and called Harry. The call went straight to voicemail. Although frustrated, he knew he needed his son.

"Son, I know I've screwed up a lot, but I really need you right now. I'm planning a fundraiser that could hopefully help me put Oscorp back on top, and I would like your support. You can even bring that Liz girl you seem to like so much," Norman said before hanging up.

* * *

"Parker! Get over here!"

"Good luck," Betty chuckled, patting Peter's shoulder.

"Thanks," Peter responded, walking into Jameson's office.

"Parker, as you've probably heard, Osborn's having a damn fundraiser this coming Friday night-" Jameson started.

"And you want me to go and cover it," Peter assumed.

"DON'T interrupt me when I'm speaking!"

Some of the workers, including Ned, Betty, and Robertson, looked over in surprise.

"Anyways, yes, I want you to go and cover it. Get some damn good pictures. And an interview with Osborn would be great. Bring a date or not, I don't care."

"Got it, Jameson," Peter sighed as he walked out of the office.

"What'd he want?" Ned asked.

"To cover the Oscorp fundraiser," Peter replied. "Should be interesting. Apparently, Norman thinks that people will feel pity for him and donate money so he can fix the building."

"He's messed up. Are you going to take someone?"

"Yep. I'm gonna take Gwen."

"How've been things going with her? Is it tough dating the police chief's daughter?" Betty asked.

"After a while, not really. I didn't make the best first impression."

"Well, knowing you well, the big guy probably grew to love you."

Peter chuckled. "Thanks, Betty."

* * *

It was a typical afternoon of Peter and Gwen doing homework after school.

"So to find x, you'd have to multiply by seven, then square and divide by four to find the total-"

"How does a fundraiser sound?" Peter blurted out.

Gwen laughed. "What?"

"My boss at the Daily Bugle asked me to cover Norman Osborn's fundraiser, and he said I could bring a date. Naturally, I thought I would ask my beautiful girlfriend," Peter explained with a smile.

"Well, of course I'll go! Sounds fun!" Gwen answered, kissing Peter on the cheek. "You think Harry's gonna show?"

Peter smirked. "You cheating on me?"

Gwen punched Peter's arm. "You know what I mean."

"Not sure yet. Maybe I'll talk to him."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter is the final chapter.**


	13. Standoff

**Chapter 13: Standoff**

"So, you're going?"

"Yep," Harry responded. "Bringing Liz. You're taking Gwen, I assume."

Peter and Harry were walking outside of the school, and based off their conversation, Harry was much less enthusiastic about the event than Peter.

"You're seriously not that excited?" Peter asked.

"Nope. Why would I be? It's just gonna be another one of Dad's events. They're all the same. They're fundraisers that benefit him and him only."

"But this is for his company. Oscorp's at risk here, dude. Do you really want to see your father lose everything?"

Harry thought about it. He loved his dad but hated that his father focused more on his company than his own son. Harry always felt jealous and longed for a father figure, something Peter could relate to since losing Uncle Ben.

"No, Pete. I just feel neglected. Do you know that he hasn't asked me once how I've been doing since my mom died? Not once. He never talks about her or shows any remorse for what happened. To be honest, I'm kinda starting to think that he had something to do with it," Harry confessed.

"But why? It was just a fire, wasn't it? Do you think he started it?"

"I don't want to believe it. And maybe I'm just being paranoid. But I can't shake the feeling that something isn't right."

"I don't mean to be rude, dude. I'd be lying if I said your dad didn't give a creepy vibe at times, but would he go as far as murder?" Peter wondered.

"Insult him all you want, I don't care. I think he's hiding something, and I need to know what it is."

"No. Don't make things worse between you two. I'll talk to him," Peter promised.

" _You're_ gonna talk to him? Do you really think that's smart?"

"Well, I have always admired him to an extent. Whether you like the guy or not, he works hard to provide for you. If you really think he's hiding something or behind your mother's death, then let me get a confession out of him."

"You're not a cop, are you?" Harry jokingly asked.

Peter chuckled. "No, but I can definitely say I've had experience when it comes to being around police officers. I'll get the answers you want."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Pete."

* * *

To say that Norman's fundraiser was a big event was a severe understatement. This could make or break the future of Oscorp, the company he had started twenty years prior. Norman was well aware of the stakes, so he did he best to make sure everything went well.

The venue was packed with people in fancy attire, and it was only 6:10. Peter was dressed in a black suit he had borrowed from Harry, as well as a white collar shirt and green tie. Gwen was dressed in a green dress and black heels. Peter and Gwen were making their way through the swarm of people.

"Jesus, I don't know why I let you talk me into this!" Gwen joked.

"Believe me, it'll be worth it," Peter responded.

"It must be for them," Gwen said, pointing to Peter's right.

Peter turned to see Harry and Liz both talking to each other, and both looked happy. Luckily, Peter was able to spot Norman nearby, talking to a businessman.

"Bingo," Peter stated.

"Bingo?" Gwen questioned.

"I gotta interview Mr. Osborn. Is it cool if you give me a minute?"

"Sure, Pete."

Peter walked through the crowd of people and made his way to Norman, who had luckily just finished talking to the businessman.

"Mr. Osborn!" Peter started. "Is it cool if I ask you some questions for the _Daily Bugle_?"

"Absolutely, Peter, glad you could make it. Ask away," Norman enthusiastically agreed. Norman was also wearing a suit with a red tie.

Peter pulled a tape recorder out of his jacket pocket and pressed the record button. "So, in light of recent events at Oscorp, how successful do you think this fundraiser will go, and how much hope do you see for the company?"

"Well, Mr. Parker, I have all the hope in the world in my company. My business has done a lot for this city and has greatly benefited our citizens. I also have to hope that that damn Goblin gets caught or killed before he can pull off another attack. You remember how much damage that did to my tower," Norman replied.

"Yes, I do, sir. What's the goal you need to accomplish the repairs?"

"$3,000,000. You'd think that one of the richest men in New York would be able to pull that all off with ease, but I also lost a lot of my fortune in my divorce and when my ex-wife passed away. Truly a tragedy. I miss her very much."

"But you had your struggles with your wife, yes?"

Norman was confused. What did a question like that have to do with Oscorp?

"Mr. Parker, I'm not sure what this has to do with this fundraiser."

"It's just a question, Mr. Osborn. You're more than welcome to not answer it," Peter countered.

Norman sighed. "Yes, my wife and I had our problems, and we rushed through the divorce process, but I also need to provide for my son Harry."

"You have your problems with him, too, don't you?"

The conversation was starting to hit a nerve with Norman.

"Mr. Parker, I respect you a great deal, but I'm failing to see the relevance of my son in all of this. Whether it's your business or not-"

"Sorry, Mr. Osborn, it's just that I've known Harry since we were kids, and I've never seen him this down in his life. I think he's making progress at getting better, but that was his mom. And you're his father. He feels neglected by you, and I think he has always felt that way."

"Peter, who are you to judge my parenting skills? And turn the damn recorder off!" Norman shouted.

A couple of attendees looked over, though Peter kept his composure. "Mr. Osborn, I'm just concerned. Harry has suspicions on how his mother really died, and I know he'd hate the fact that she might have been murdered."

"And what is it that you think?" Norman asked.

"I have my suspicions as well. That was a pretty large fire for it to have only been started accidentally. It's a miracle that Harry's aunt even made it out alive. Come to think of it, they never found out how it happened."

Beads of sweat started going down Norman's forehead as he played around with his tie.

" _He's on to us! We have to kill him!"_

"No, I can't," Norman blurted out.

"You can't what?" Peter asked curiously.

"Nothing, Peter. No more questions," Norman declared before storming away.

Peter walked back to Gwen.

"That must've been awkward. I could hear him yell all the way from here," Gwen admitted. "What the hell did you say to trigger him like that?"

"Well…"

"Don't tell me there was an ulterior motive," Gwen groaned.

"Well, Harry's been having suspicions about his mom's death. Let's just say I decided to get some answers," Peter admitted.

"And did you get any?"

"Uhhh…"

"Great."

"Can we just try and enjoy the rest of the night?" Peter begged.

"Do you really think this was the right time and place to interrogate him?"

"Yes. I'm putting him on the spot."

"Putting him on the spot would be questioning him in front of everyone, though."

"You may have a point. But I needed to give Harry some closure."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I just wanted to thank you all very much for showing up. Without you all, I'd be living out on the streets, eating from the trash and drawing words on cardboard," Norman joked, holding a microphone in front of a stand on a stage.

The audience burst in laughter while Peter and Gwen just looked nervous.

"As you all know, for a long time, I've always wanted to perfect humanity. Enhance us to our fullest physical and mental capabilities beyond our potential. With a new breed of superhumans, the world could be a utopia. However, that dream was robbed from me after an experiment went wrong, and as a result, the other board members threatened to kick me out of the damn company I started with my own two hands. Not too long ago, they were killed by that dreadful Goblin creature, and the whole tower was de-destroyed after a fight with that freak Spider-Man. Those two monsters…they took away decades of my work! Lost me so mu-much money! My accountant later on gives me the nasty surprise that after a while, I can't afford to run my damn company anymore! Funny, huh? Nope, I'm dead serious!"

The attendees all looked around in confusion and started whispering to each other. Harry ran over to Norman, with Peter, Gwen, and Liz also looking concerned.

"Dad, what's going on?!" Harry shouted.

"Oh, go away, son! I'm perfectly fine right where I am! So, shut it!"

Taken aback, Harry went back to Liz in shock.

"I might be losing everything! Everything! It's all because of Spider-Man! This Goblin appeared after Spider-Man did, and that's what led to all of this shit! Come to think of it, the Goblin isn't at much fault compared to Spider-Man! Hell, let's give him a medal!" Norman screamed.

" _Keep telling yourself Spider-Man's responsible for this all. Together, we really brought chaos to this city. Let's bring all of New York to their knees, make them beg for mercy."_

"What is it with everyone blaming Spider-Man for all the villains?" Peter sighed to Gwen.

"I know, right? Enough is enough already," Gwen agreed.

" _After we rip Spider-Man's head off of his body, blood will be shed around the city."_

"SHUT UP!" Norman roared as he got down on his knees. "Enough is enough. What do you want from me? Why do you want to destroy New York so badly?"

" _Destroy? New York is full of corrupt people everywhere. The Vulture, Kraven, Chameleon, Scorpion. You might as well accept that we're living in a squalor full of people who do nothing but kill, rape, rob, do everything to take away hope. You and I are the worst of them. Let's just embrace it! Let's be the best of them and rip this city apart!"_

"Bullshit!" Norman yelled as he fell off the stage, prompting people to gasp.

"Dad!" Harry exclaimed as he, Liz, and a few attendees ran over to Norman.

"Oh, shit," Peter said before running away.

"Peter, where are you going?!" Gwen shouted.

All she saw before Peter left the room was him ripping his jacket off. She looked at Norman as he was struggling on the ground.

"Call an ambulance!" Harry shouted.

All Gwen could wonder was who the hell Norman was talking to. Why would the Goblin deserve a medal? And his hatred for Spider-Man…

"Oh, shit!" Gwen shouted as she put two and two together. Norman Osborn was the Green Goblin.

" _Don't let these ignorant souls bother you! You're the Goblin! First, we slaughter Spider-Man, and-"_

"I will not kill anyone!" Norman shouted. "Not anymore!"

A few of the attendees quickly rushed away from Norman, while Harry and Liz both looked at each other with shocked looks.

"Dad?!" Harry exclaimed.

" _Your son, he'll be the next one."_

"NO!" Norman yelled.

Harry's eyes widened in shock. "Not anymore? You-You killed Mom?"

"I'm sorry, son."

Norman started screaming in immense pain, punching back Harry, Liz, and the few attendees trying to help. Norman started to rip off most of his suit as his fingernails transformed into claws. Norman's eyes turned green, and his skin started to grow into a more monstrous and large form.

"What the f-" Liz started.

"YOU KILLED MOM! YOU FUCKING DID IT!" Harry roared. "I'll kill you!"

"I don't think so," Norman said before lunging at him.

Before the Goblin could attack his son, Spider-Man swung into him, knocking him into a wall. Spider-Man ran over to Harry.

"You okay?" Spider-Man asked with genuine concern.

"Y-Yeah, just kick his ass," Harry muttered.

Norman was heard roaring, and Spider-Man swung over to him. Spider-Man jumped on top of Norman and pummeled him with punches. Norman kicked Spider-Man off and grabbed his leg, smashing him against the floor. Norman then threw Spider-Man against the microphone stand, knocking it over.

"I don't have time for this nonsense!" Norman roared as he pressed a button on his watch.

Norman ran over to Spider-Man and smacked him across the wall. The attendees were everywhere screaming and fleeing.

"Mr. Osborn, you have to stop! You're putting everyone's lives in danger," Spider-Man begged as he grabbed Norman's fist and countered with a punch to the face.

"And I couldn't be any happier," Norman sadistically declared as threw some punches, which Spider-Man blocked.

Goblin grabbed Spider-Man by the throat and held him above the ground.

"But I can't kill anyone if you stand in my way. So, looks like I'm going through you first."

"Over my dead body!"

"That will be arranged," the Goblin threatened.

Spider-Man shot a web at Goblin's eyes and jumped back to the ground. He swept Goblin's leg, knocking him down. However, a piece of Goblin's body armor hit Spider-Man in the back of the head, knocking him down. The piece along with many other parts of Goblin's armor attached itself to Norman.

Once his helmet got on, Norman mused, "Good to be back."

"Still haven't gotten rid of that ugly mask, huh, Gobby?!" Spider-Man pointed out as he jumped over Goblin's incoming glider.

Goblin jumped on to the glider, which started shooting bullets at Spider-Man, who ran and dodged them before attaching himself to a wall.

"Freeze! Police!"

Spider-Man and Goblin both turned to see police officers and a SWAT team charging towards them.

"Goddamn it," Peter muttered. "GET OUT OF HERE! IT'S NOT SAFE! HE'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

Unsurprisingly, the men started shooting, with the bullets easily bouncing off of the Goblin, who Spider-Man used as a human shield.

"You're gonna have to do better than that!" the Goblin taunted. "But I can."

He summoned a bomb from his glider and threw it towards the crowd of officers before Spider-Man lunged at it and threw it back at him, knocking him off his glider. Spider-Man leapt down in front of the men.

"You believe me now?!" Spider-Man asked.

"Men, evacuate the building and get everyone out of here! Set up a perimeter outside, and make sure people get off the streets!" Captain Stacy commanded.

The men started to leave as Captain Stacy stayed behind.

"Captain, you have to leave. This is my fight, not yours."

"I doubted you for a while, and I owe my life to you."

"No, you don't. Not with your life."

Goblin came flying, grabbing Spider-Man, who grabbed onto Goblin and tried to force him off. As the two struggled in the air, Captain Stacy aimed for a good shot with his shotgun. Once he had a clear shot, Captain Stacy shot the glider, causing it to start smoking. The two held onto the glider as it flew threw a window of the building and outside. Goblin kicked Spider-Man off, and the young hero held onto the edge of the glider as tightly as he could.

"You're really starting to get on my last nerve, Spider-Man!" Goblin spat.

"The feeling is mutual. At least we can agree on something," Spider-Man agreed as he ripped some wires out of the glider before letting go.

Spider-Man swung towards a clock tower and crouched on it. Goblin jumped off of the glider and leapt onto the clock tower as the glider crashed to the ground.

"What's next, Goblin?" Spider-Man asked as he shot a web, which Goblin caught. "Everyone knows who you are now."

Spider-Man jumped over to Goblin and kicked him twice in the chest before backflipping. Goblin threw a fist, but Spider-Man jumped over it, and the punch landed on the concrete. Spider-Man punched Goblin in the face and grabbed his fist.

"It's over, Gobby," Spider-Man declared.

Goblin smiled evilly. "You're right, but not for me."

Spider-Man's cockiness disappeared as he looked down at his chest, with Goblin's claws scratching it. Goblin proceeded to smack Spider-Man across the face twice, kick him in the chest, and throw him to the edge of the roof. Spider-Man shot some web darts, though Goblin smacked them aside. Spider-Man lunged at Goblin, who simply grabbed the hero by the throat and smashed him against the concrete. Spider-Man grabbed Goblin's mask and plunged his fingers into it, ripping it. The Goblin shouted in pain as he grabbed his face, allowing Spider-Man to escape. Goblin took his helmet off, revealing Norman's bruised and bloodied face.

"It was you all along, all this time," Spider-Man stated in disbelief. "How could you do this to Harry?"

"How could _you_ do this to Harry, Peter?" the Goblin countered.

"You knew?" Spider-Man asked, stunned.

"I should have figured it out sooner. You're too oblivious to the fact that you and Spider-Man are one and the same. You both do what needs to be done. When you stop and think about it, you're a lot like me. You don't let anyone stand in your way, no matter how close they are to you."

"You're right. The difference is, I won't kill people to do it. You're ruthless, and you'll kill anyone. You would even kill your own wife, the mother of your child."

"And I'll kill you, too," Norman threatened.

"Let's find out."

Spider-Man and Goblin lunged at each other. Spider-Man shot a web at Norman's face and pulled it down, kneeing him and throwing him across the ground. Spider-Man pummelled Goblin with his fists. Goblin pulled a dagger out of his leg and swung it, but Spider-Man grabbed it and jammed it in Goblin's shoulder.

"Damn insect!" Goblin yelled as parts of his armor temporarily malfunctioned.

Spider-Man continued to punch, though Goblin started to block them. Spider-Man headbutted Goblin, who laughed and headbutted Spider-Man back, causing him to yell and hold his head in pain.

"No one wins with a headbutt!" Spider-Man admitted.

Goblin grabbed Spider-Man and slammed him against the concrete. Smashing him against the concrete, they both fell through the tower as the concrete collapsed. They both fell on the large gears. Spider-Man swung around, evading Goblin, and swung around to kick him in the face, knocking him further down to more gears. Spider-Man jumped down and threw a kick, but Goblin grabbed his leg and threw him against the wall. Goblin then assaulted Spider-Man's chest and face and lunged his claws at Spider-Man's face. Spider-Man desperately grabbed the claw and managed to shove it away, throwing Goblin against the wall.

Meanwhile, outside, people on the streets were watching the clock tower as debris kept crumbling to the ground. Cops were talking to witnesses, who had all claimed to have seen Spider-Man and Goblin fighting there. Captain Stacy got out of a cruiser and ran towards the tower. A news crew was there, covering the event.

"As we're covering this, Spider-Man and the Goblin are fighting inside of this clock tower. We'll let you know if there are any updates, but so far-"

Part of the clock tower's wall exploded, and Spider-Man was knocked down, falling towards the ground.

"Holy shit!" the news reporter shouted.

Spider-Man shot a web at the tower and clung to the wall. However, Goblin jumped down, grabbed Spider-Man and smashed him against the wall before throwing him back down. Spider-Man fell on a cruiser, smashing it completely. Spider-Man groaned in pain as he got down from the car. His left eye piece was ripped off, and his chest was still bleeding from the claw marks. Spider-Man quickly webbed up his wound as Captain Stacy ran over to him.

"Is he any close to dying?" Captain Stacy asked.

The Goblin's roar was heard as he jumped down.

"That answer your question?" Spider-Man sighed as he swung towards Goblin.

The news cameras focused on the fight, primarily Norman's exposed face. Goblin grabbed both of Spider-Man's fists and kicked him down. Spider-Man swept to the side to avoid his foot, and jumped back up. Goblin ran over, grabbed a cruiser, and threw it at Spider-Man.

"Okay, now I'm offended," Spider-Man groaned as he dodged the cruiser that came his way.

BAM!

A shotgun bullet hit Goblin's arm, causing him to shout in pain as blood spewed everywhere. Goblin turned around to see Captain Stacy shoot him again in the thigh.

"Son of a bitch!" Goblin shouted as he lunged at Captain Stacy.

Captain Stacy fell back as Goblin grabbed his shotgun. The two wrestled on the ground, though Goblin managed to snap the shotgun in half. Before he could do anything else, Spider-Man pulled Goblin off and punched him twice in the face. Spider-Man punched Goblin's arm wound, causing him to yell further in frustration. Captain Stacy rammed Goblin in the back of the head with one part of the shotgun, only for the villain to turn around and smack him across the cheek, knocking him down. Spider-Man plunged his hand in Goblin's back, ripping out some wires.

"NO!" Goblin screamed as Spider-Man ripped out more wires.

Goblin turned around to throw a punch, only for him to stumble on his feet. The suit was disabled, and it didn't help that Norman had two shotgun wounds.

"I feel bad for you, Mr. Osborn. I really do," Spider-Man confessed as he simply pushed Norman down to the ground.

"I don't want your pity," Norman growled. "I promise you when I come back, you'll find yourself swimming in a pool of blood."

"And I'll be ready."

Several officers finally were able to arrest Norman Osborn as Spider-Man swung away from the scene. Just as he left, Gwen, Harry, Liz, and Flash arrived at the scene. Harry was sobbing, with his friends consoling him.

"My dad…he really did it. I didn't want to believe it, but he killed my mom. Did all that terrible stuff to all those people," Harry cried.

"I'm so sorry, Harry," Liz said.

"We all love you, Harry," Gwen reminded.

"We've got your back if you want to talk, bro," Flash promised.

Captain Stacy walked up to Harry and put his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, son. We'll do our best to bring your father to justice."

"By locking him up?" Harry asked.

"Whatever we have to do. Your father I can only assume has great lawyers. He'll probably get a minimal sentence or locked in a psych ward."

Harry nodded. "Whatever works."

Peter ran over, though his face was bruised and his shirt was bleeding.

"Guys, what the hell did I miss?!" Peter asked.

Gwen and Liz screamed simultaneously as Flash's mouth dropped.

"Shit, what happened, Pete?!" Liz blurted out.

"Babe, where were you?!" Gwen cried as she ran over to Peter.

"Oh, it took me a while to get out of that place," Peter lied. "As Spider-Man and Goblin fought, I got caught in the crossfire. Ferocious stuff, let me tell you."

"Dude, you need to go to a hospital!" Flash exclaimed.

"No shit you need to go to a hospital!" Gwen yelled as she pressed her hands on Peter's wound.

Peter groaned. "Probably not a good idea right now."

"Right. Sorry," Gwen said as she pulled her hand away.

"Pete, you seriously stayed behind for all of that?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Believe me, not fun. Also, I lost the suit jacket, so sorry about that," Peter apologized.

"Dude, are you shitting me? I'm just glad that you're breathing," Harry pointed out.

"Peter, can I talk to you in private?" Gwen requested.

"Uh, sure."

Peter and Gwen walked away as Liz and Flash continued to talk to Harry.

"Before all that shit went down, you literally ran out. Now, you're saying you got caught in between the fight?" Gwen stated with a suspicious tone.

"Y-Yeah. As I was trying to run out, the entrance got barricaded with some debris or whatever, and before I could break open a window with a chair, that whole fight went down."

"You just ran all the way here?"

"Uber?"

"Pete, are you sure you're okay? You didn't knock your head on any debris?'

"Gwen, I'm fine," Peter assured. "I promise."

As Peter and Gwen held hands, they looked at Norman being taken away in a cruiser and Harry continuing to cry.

"What happened to the man who just wanted to help humanity?" Peter sadly asked.

"He got lost in himself. Harry's dad as the Goblin. I never would've imagined that. Just shows how much crazier New York's gotten since the Vulture."

"More like since Spider-Man," Peter countered.

"I know he's got his haters, like my dad initially, but I have and always will admire Spider-Man for having the guts to do what's necessary for us."

Peter chuckled. "Sounds like a great guy."

"Valeria Toomes would've been proud."

"I bet she would be, too," Peter agreed, trying not to cry.

* * *

As Spider-Man and the Green Goblin were fighting, Max Dillon was working in an Empire State University laboratory. He didn't have high hopes that the fundraiser would work, so it didn't take long for him to begin having a test trial at the lab to see if it could be a potential new job for him. Luckily, Doctor Curt Connors was generous enough for Max to start fast. The young electrician was working on the bioelectric filters, which were the starting point for more unlimited and feasible electricity for New York. If it worked, Connors would be rich, along with Max.

"Damn things can be tricky," Max admitted as he worked on the filters. "Right now, the electromagnetic particles aren't corresponding well with the electric sources of the-"

"With that knowledge, I'm surprised you didn't become a scientist like me," Curt admitted, walking in.

"I wish," Max said. "I didn't realize until after graduating college how fascinating this science stuff can be."

"Men like us do have our gifts," Curt stated, holding up his limbless arm. "Hopefully, that'll bring my arm back someday.

"That'd be sick," Max chuckled. "You know, after we both get rich, I think I want to try and-"

BOOM!

The Goblin's glider flew right through the wall and exploded in the containers with the biolectric filters and specialized water. Curt was knocked back by the blast, but Max fell in the water, screaming in pain.

"Help, HELP!" Max screamed in agony as his body was taken over by the electric pain.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the final chapter of Along Came a Spider-Man: Vol 2 - Enter the Goblin. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Stay tuned for Volume 3: High Voltage.**


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